SERVICE  MONOGRAPHS 

OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 

N212 
INSTITUTE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  RESEARCH 


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THE  EMPLOYEES- 
COMPENSATION    COMMISSION 

ITS  HISTORY,  ACTIVITIES 
AND   ORGANIZATION 


THE  INSTITUTE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  RESEARCH 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Institute  for  Government  Research  is  an  association  of 
citizens  for  cooperating  with  public  officials  in  the  scientific 
study  of  government  with  a  view  to  promoting  efficiency  and 
economy  in  its  operations  and  advancing  the  science  of  ad- 
ministration. It  aims  to  bring  into  existence  such  informa- 
tion and  materials  as  will  aid  in  the  formation  of  public  opin- 
ion and  will  assist  officials,  particularly  those  of  the  national 
government,  in  their  efforts  to  put  the  public  administration 
upon  a  more  efficient  basis. 

To  this  end,  it  seeks  by  the  thoroughgoing  study  and  exam- 
ination of  the  best  administrative  practice,  public  and  private, 
American  and  foreign,  to  formulate  those  principles  which  lie 
at  the  basis  of  all  sound  administration,  and  to  determine  their 
proper  adaptation  to  the  specific  needs  of  our  public  adminis- 
tration. 

The  accomplishment  of  specific  reforms  the  Institute  recog- 
nizes to  be  the  task  of  those  who  are  charged  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  legislation  and  administration;  but  it  seeks  to  assist, 
by  scientific  study  and  research,  in  laying  a  solid  foundation  of 
information  and  experience  upon  which  such  reforms  may  be 
successfully  built. 

While  some  of  the  Institute's  studies  find  application  only  in 
the  form  of  practical  cooperation  with  the  administrative  of- 
ficers directly  concerned,  many  are  of  interest  to  other  admin- 
istrators and  of  general  educational  value.  The  results  of 
such  studies  the  Institute  purposes  to  publish  in  such  form  as 
will  insure  for  them  the  widest  possible  utilization. 

Officers 
Robert  S.  Brookings,  Frank  J.  Goodnow, 

Chairman  Vice-Chairman 

Frederick 


James  F.  Curtis, 

Secretary 

Edwin  A.  Alderman 
Robert  S.   Brookings 
James  F.  Curtis 
R.  Fulton  Cutting 
Frederic  A.  Delano 
Henry  S.  Dennison 
George  Eastman 
Raymond  B.  Fosdick 
Felix  Frankfurter 


Trustees 

Edwin  F.  Gay 
Frank  J.  Goodnow 
Jerome  D.  Greene 
Arthur  T.  Hadley 
Herbert  C.  Hoover 
David  F.  Houston 
A.  Lawrence  Lowell 
Samuel  Mather 
Richard  B.  Mellon 
Director 
W.  F.  Willoughby 
Editor 
F.  W.  Powell 


Strauss, 

Treasurer 


Charles  D.  Norton 
Martin  A.  Ryerson 
Frederick  Strauss 
Silas  H.  Strawn 
William  H.  Taft 
Ray  Lyman  Wilbur 
Robert  S.  Woodward 


INSTITUTE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  RESEARCH 
SERVICE  MONOGRAPHS 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  GOVERNMENT 
No.  12 

THE  EMPLOYEES' 

COMPENSATION  COMMIS 

SION 

ITS  HISTORY,  ACTIVITIES 
AND  ORGANIZATION 


BY 

GUSTAVUS  A.  WEBER 

If 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1922 


♦  i  •  *r  •  J  •••••;  •    •   •    *  \ 


litest 


Copyright,   1922,  by 
THE  INSTITUTE  FOR  GOVERMENT  RESEARCH 


PRINTED   IN    THE    UNITED    STATES   QT   AMERICA 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THEf 


INSTITUTE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  RESEARCH  gS 


STUDIES  IN  ADMINISTRATION 

The  System  of  Financial  Administration  of  Great  Britain 
By  W.  F.  Willoughby,  W.  W.  Willoughby,  and  S.  M.  Lindsay 
The  Budget 

By  Rene  Stourm 
T.   Plazinski,  Translator;   W.  F.   McCaleb,  Editor 
The  Canadian  Budgetary  System 

By  H.  G.  Villard  and  W.  W.  Willoughby 
The  Problem  of  a  National  Budget 

By  W.  F.  Willoughby 
The  Movement  for  Budgetary  Reform  in  the  States 

By  W.  F.  Willoughby 
Teacher's  Pension  Systems  in  the  United  States 

By  Paul   Studensky 
Organized  Efforts  for  the  Improvement  of  Methods  of  Ad- 
ministration in  the  United  States 
By  Gustavus  A.,  Weber 
The  Federal  Service:    A  Study  of  the  System  of  Personal 
Administration  of  the  United  States  Government 
By  Lewis  Mayers 
The    System   of    Financial   Administration   of   the    United 
States  (In  Preparation) 

PRINCIPLES  OF  ADMINISTRATION 

Principles  Governing  the  Retirement  of  Public  Employees 

By  Lewis  Meriam 
Principles  of  Government  Purchasing 

By  Arthur  G.  Thomas 
Principles  of  Government  Accounting  and  Reporting 

By  Francis  Oakey,  C.  P.  A. 
Principles  of  Personnel  Administration 

By  Arthur  W.  Procter 

SERVICE    MONOGRAPHS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 
GOVERNMENT 
The  Geological  Survey 
The  Reclamation  Service 
The  Bureau  of  Mines 
The  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission 
The  Tariff  Commission 

The  Federal  Board  for  Vocational  Education 
The  Federal  Trade  Commission 
The   Steamboat-Inspection  Service 
The  National  Park  Service 
The  Public  Health  Service 
The  Weather  Bureau 
The  Employee's  Compensation  Commission 


492k'. ... 


FOREWORD 

The  first  essential  to  efficient  administration  of  any  enter- 
prise is  full  knowledge  of  its  present  make-up  and  operation. 
Without  full  and  complete  information  before  them,  as  to 
existing  organization,  personnel,  plant,  and  methods  of  oper- 
ation and  control,  neither  legislators  nor  administrators  can 
properly  perform  their  functions. 

The  greater  the  work,  the  more  varied  the  activities  en- 
gaged in,  and  the  more  complex  the  organization  employed, 
and  more  imperative  becomes  the  necessity  that  this  informa- 
tion shall  be  available — and  available  in  such  a  form  that  it 
can  readily  be  utilized. 

Of  all  undertakings,  none  in  the  United  States,  and  few,  if 
any,  in  the  world,  approach  in  magnitude,  complexity,  and 
importance  that  of  the  national  government  of  the  United 
States.  As  President  Taft  expressed  it  in  his  message  to  Con- 
gress of  January  17,  19 12,  in  referring  to  the  inquiry  being 
made  under  his  direction  into  the  efficiency  and  economy  of  the 
methods  of  prosecuting  public  business,  the  activities  of  the 
national  government  "are  almost  as  varied  as  those  of  the  en- 
tire business  world.  The  operations  of  the  government  affect 
the  interest  of  every  person  living  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  United  States.  Its  organization  embraces  stations  and 
centers  of  work  located  in  every  city  and  in  many  local  sub- 
divisions of  the  country.  Its  gross  expenditures  amount  to 
billions  annually.  Including  the  personnel  of  the  military  and 
naval  establishments,  more  than  half  a  million  persons  are  re- 
quired to  do  the  work  imposed  by  law  upon  the  executive 
branch  of  the  government. 

"This  vast  organization  has  never  been  studied  in  detail  as 
one  piece  of  administrative  mechanism.  Never  have  the 
foundations  been  laid  for  a  thorough  consideration  of  the  re- 
lations of  all  its  parts.  No  comprehensive  effort  has  been 
made  to  list  its  multifarious  activities  or  to  group  them  in  such 
a  way  as  to  present  a  clear  picture  of  what  the  government  is 
doing.     Never  has  a  complete  description  been  given  of  the 

agencies  through  which  thf.se  activities  are  performed.     At 

vii 


viii  FOREWORD 

no  time  has  the  attempt  been  made  to  study  all  of  these  activ- 
ities and  agencies  with  a  view  to  the  assignment  of  each  activ- 
ity to  the  agency  best  fitted  for  its  performance,  to  the  avoid- 
ance of  duplication  of  plant  and  work,  to  the  integration  of  all 
administrative  agencies  of  the  government,  so  far  as  may  be 
practicable,  into  a  unified  organization  for  the  most  effective 
and  economical  dispatch  of  public  business." 

To  lay  the  basis  for  such  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  or- 
ganization and  operations  of  the  national  government  as  Pres- 
ident Taft  outlined,  the  Institute  for  Government  Research 
has  undertaken  the  preparation  of  a  series  of  monographs,  of 
which  the  present  study  is  one,  giving  a  detailed  description  of 
each  of  the  fifty  or  more  distinct  services  of  the  government. 
These  studies  are  being  vigorously  prosecuted,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  all  services  of  the  government  will  be  covered  in  a  com- 
paratively brief  space  of  time.  Thereafter,  revisions  of  the 
monographs  will  be  made  from  time  to  time  as  need  arises,  to 
the  end  that  they  may,  as  far  as  practicable,  represent  current 
conditions. 

These  monographs  are  all  prepared  according  to  a  uniform 
plan.  They  give:  first,  the  history  of  the  establishment  and 
development  of  the  service;  second,  its  functions,  described 
not  in  general  terms,  but  by  detailing  its  specific  activities; 
third,  its  organization  for  the  handling  of  these  activities? 
fourth,  the  character  of  its  plant;  fifth,  a  compilation  of,  or 
reference  to,  the  laws  and  regulations  governing  its  operations; 
sixth,  financial  statements  showing  its  appropriations,  expen- 
ditures and  other  data  for  a  period  of  years ;  and  finally,  a  full 
bibliography  of  the  sources  of  information,  official  and  private, 
bearing  on  the  service  and  its  operations. 

In  the  preparation  of  these  monographs  the  Institute  has 
kept  steadily  in  mind  the  aim  to  produce  documents  that  will 
be  of  direct  value  and  assistance  in  the  administration  of  public 
affairs.  To  executive  officials  they  offer  valuable  tools  of  ad- 
ministration. Through  them,  such  officers  can,  with  a  min- 
imum of  effort,  inform  themselves  regarding  the  details,  not 
only  of  their  own  services,  but  of  others  with  whose  facilities, 
activities,  and  methods  it  is  desirable  that  they  should  be  fa- 
miliar. Under  present  conditions  services  frequently  engage 
in  activities  in  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  the  work  projected 
has  already  been  done,  or  is  in  process  of  execution  by  other 
services.  Many  cases  exist  where  one  service  could  make  ef- 
fective use  of  the  organization,  plant  or  results  of  other  serv- 


FOREWORD  ix 

ices  had  they  knowledge  that  such  facilities  were  in  existence. 
With  the  constant  shifting  of  directing  personnel  that  takes 
place  in  the  administrative  branch  of  the  national  government, 
the  existence  of  means  by  which  incoming  officials  may  thus 
readily  secure  information  regarding  their  own  and  other  serv- 
ices is  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

To  members  of  Congress  the  monographs  should  prove  of 
no  less  value.  At  present  these  officials  are  called  upon  to 
legislate  and  appropriate  money  for  services  concerning  whose 
needs  and  real  problems  they  can  secure  but  imperfect  infor- 
mation. That  the  possession  by  each  member  of  a  set  of 
monographs,  such  as  is  here  projected,  prepared  according  to 
a  uniform  plan,  will  be  a  great  aid  to  intelligent  legislation 
and  appropriation  of  funds  can  hardly  be  questioned. 

To  the  public,  finally,  these  monographs  will  give  that 
knowledge  of  the  organization  and  operations  of  their  gov- 
ernment which  must  be  had  if  an  enlightened  public  opinion 
is  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  conduct  of  governmental 
affairs. 

These  studies  are  wholly  descriptive  in  character.  No  at- 
tempt is  made  in  them  to  subject  the  conditions  described  to 
criticism,  nor  to  indicate  features  in  respect  to  which  changes 
might  with  advantage  be  made.  Upon  administrators  them- 
selves falls  responsibility  for  making  or  proposing  changes 
which  will  result  in  the  improvement  of  methods  of  adminis- 
tration. The  primary  aim  of  outside  agencies  should  be  to 
emphasize  this  responsibility  and  facilitate  its  fulfillment. 

While  the  monographs  thus  make  no  direct  recommenda- 
tions for  improvement,  they  cannot  fail  greatly  to  stimulate 
efforts  in  that  direction.  Prepared  as  they  are  according  to  a 
uniform  plan,  and  setting  forth  as  they  do  the  activities,  plant, 
organization,  personnel  and  laws  governing  the  several  serv- 
ices of  the  government,  they  will  automatically,  as  it  were, 
reveal,  for  example,  the  extent  to  which  work  in  the  same  field 
is  being  performed  by  different  services,  and  thus  furnish  the 
information  that  is  essential  to  a  consideration  of  the  great 
question  of  the  better  distribution  and  coordination  of  activi- 
ties among  the  several  departments,  establishments,  and  bu- 
reaus, and  the  elimination  of  duplications  of  plant,  organiza- 
tion and  work.  Through  them  it  will  also  be  possible  to  sub- 
ject any  particular  feature  of  the  administrative  work  of  the 
government  to  exhaustive  study,  to  determine,  for  example, 
what  facilities,  in  the  way  of  laboratories  and  other  plant  and 


x  FOREWORD 

equipment,  exist  for  the  prosecution  of  any  line  of  work  and 
where  those  facilities  are  located;  or  what  work  is  being  done 
in  any  field  of  administration  or  research,  such  as  the  promo- 
tion, protection  and  regulation  of  the  maritime  interests  of  the 
country,  the  planning  and  execution  of  works  of  an  engineer- 
ing character,  or  the  collection,  compilation  and  publication  of 
statistical  data,  or  what  differences  of  practice  prevail  in  re- 
spect to  organization,  classification,  appointment,  and  promo- 
tion of  personnel. 

To  recapitulate,  the  monographs  will  serve  the  double  pur- 
pose of  furnishing  an  essential  tool  for  efficient  legislation,  ad- 
ministration and  popular  control,  and  of  laying  the  basis  for 
critical  and  constructive  work  on  the  part  of  those  upon  whom 
responsibility  for  such  work  primarily  rests. 

Whenever  possible  the  language  of  official  statements  or  re- 
ports has  been  employed,  and  it  has  not  been  practicable  in  all 
cases  to  make  specific  indication  of  the  language  so  quoted. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Foreword  i 

I.    History 

Federal    Compensation   Legislation I 

Special  Provisions  for  Life  Saving  Service 2 

Special  Provisions  for  Post  Office  Department  ....  3 

First  Efforts  for  General  Act 4 

General  Act  of  1908 4 

Present  Act  of  1916 7 

II.    Activities  16 

Rules  and   Regulations 17 

Publicity ^ 18 

Administering  Compensation  Awards 18 

Directing  Damage  Suits  Against  Third  Parties      ...  26 

Administration  of  Medical  Relief 27 

Compiling  Statistics 28 

Estimates  and  Reports 28 

III.     Organization  30 

Offices  of  the  Commissioners 30 

Secretary's   Office 30 

Assembly    Division 31 

Claims    Division 31 

Medical  Division 32 

Medical   Claims   Division 33 

Legal   Division 34 

Statistical    Division 34 

Disbursing   Office 34 

APPENDIX 

1.  Outline  of  Organization 36 

2.  Classification  of  Activities 40 

3.  Publications 42 

4.  Laws: 44 

5.  Financial    Statements 69 

6.  Statistics  of  Injuries  and  Awards 72 

7.  Bibliography 73 

Index 85 


THE  EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION 
COMMISSION:  ITS  HISTORY,  ACTIV- 
ITIES AND  ORGANIZATION 

CHAPTER  I 

HISTORY 

The  United  States  Employees'  Compensation  Commission 
is  an  independent  establishment  of  the  government  which 
determines  compensation  awards  and  pays  compensation  in 
behalf  of  the  United  States  under  the  provisions  of  the  Com- 
pensation Act  of  September  7,  19 16  (39  Stat.  L.,  742). 
Workmen's  compensation  acts  are  based  on  the  principle  that 
industry  and  not  the  workers  should  bear  the  financial  burden 
of  industrial  accidents.  Before  the  enactment  of  compensa- 
tion laws  for  national  government  employees,  there  was  no  law 
under  which  the  government  was  liable  for  injuries  to  its  em- 
ployees and  there  was  no  way  by  which  a  civilian  injured  in 
the  government  service  could  obtain  any  relief  from  the  gov- 
ernment except  by  securing  the  passage  of  a  private  act. 

Federal  Compensation  Legislation.  The  Compensation 
Act  of  1916,  which  took  the  place  of  all  previous  national 
compensation  acts,  was  the  result  of  the  development  of 
workmen's  compensation  thought  in  the  United  States. 
The  first  acts  were  confined  to  specific  services,  and  were  in 
the  nature  of  provisions  for  leave  with  pay  during  disability. 
Later  in  1908  an  act  of  somewhat  general  application  was 
passed  providing  limited  relief  for  employees  and  dependents 
of  employees  engaged  in  what  were  considered  hazardous  em- 


2       EMPLOYEES"  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

ployments  (Act  of  May  30,  1908;  35  Stat.  L.,  556).  The 
present  act  provides  compensation  for  all  employees  and  de- 
pendents of  employees  of  the  United  States  government.  The 
framers  of  this  law  aimed  to  provide  a  scale  of  compensation 
benefits  which  would  both  grant  a  maximum  relief  to  em- 
ployees and  secure  for  the  government  a  maximum  economic 
return. 

Following  is  a  brief  history  of  national  workmen's  com- 
pensation legislation: 

Special  Provisions  for  Life-Saving  Service.  In  1882  an 
act  entitled  "An  act  to  promote  the  efficiency  of  the  Life-Sav- 
ing Service,  and  to  encourage  the  saving  of  life  from  ship- 
wreck," *  provided  that  the  keepers  or  members  of  crews  of 
life-saving  or  life-boat  stations  should  receive  leave  with  pay 
for  a  maximum  of  two  years  during  disability  arising  from 
injury  or  disease  contracted  in  the  line  of  duty ;  that  the 
widows  and  children  of  such  employees  who  should  die  as  a 
result  of  injury  or  disease  contracted  in  the  line  of  duty  should 
receive,  during  a  period  of  two  years,  the  same  amount  as  the 
husband  or  father  would  have  received  if  he  were  alive  and 
in  the  service;  and  that  compensation  should  cease  to  widows 
when  they  should  remarry,  and  to  children  when  they  should 
arrive  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years. 

In  1908  the  act  of  1882  was  amended  to  provide  that  de- 
pendent mothers  of  deceased  employees  should  share  in  the 
compensation  benefits.2  In  191 5  the  act  which  combined  the 
Life-Saving  Service  and  the  Revenue-Cutter  Service  under 
the  name  of  the  Coast  Guard,  and  which  made  the  Coast 
Guard  a  part  of  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States, 
provided  that  the  compensation  provisions  for  employees  of 
the  former  Life-Saving  Service  should  apply  to  the  death 
of  any  officer,  warrant  officer,  or  enlisted  man  on  the  active 
list  in  the  Coast  Guard ;  and  that  no  pension  should  be  allowed 
or  paid  to  any  commissioned  officer,  warrant  officer,  or  en- 

1  Act  of  May  4,  1882;  22  Stat.  L.,  57. 

2  Act  of  March  26,  1908;  35  Stat.  L.,  46. 


HISTORY  3 

listed  man  in  the  Coast  Guard  on  either  the  active  or  retired 
list.8  The  compensation  provisions  of  the  act  of  1882,  as 
amended  by  the  acts  of  1908  and  19 15,  continued  in  force 
until  the  enactment  of  the  present  general  Compensation  Act. 
Special  Provisions  for  Post  Office  Department.  The  Post 
Office  Department  appropriation  act  for  1901  contained  an 
item  of  $25,000  for  the  appointment  of  acting  clerks  in  the 
place  of  clerks  of  the  railway  mail  service  injured  while  on 
duty.4  This  provision,  which  was  a  kind  of  compensation 
legislation,  or  a  provision  similar  to  it,  was  included  in  each 
succeeding  appropriation  act  for  the  Post  Office  Department 
until  the  year  191 6.  In  1902  provision  was  made  to  pay 
one  thousand  dollars  to  the  legal  representatives  of  railway 
postal  clerks  dying  from  injuries  received  while  on  duty.5 
In  19 10  the  amount  was  increased  to  two  thousand  dollars.6 
In  1 91 2  post-office  inspectors  and  sea-post  clerks,  and  their 
legal  representatives  were  also  included  in  the  compensation 
provisions,  and  an  additional  provision  was  made  for  the  pay- 
ment of  50  per  cent  of  the  salaries  for  an  additional  year 
after  the  first  year  to  railway  mail  clerks  and  sea-post  clerks.7 
In  19 14  provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  full  pay  dur- 
ing the  first  year  and  50  per  cent  of  the  full  pay  during  the 
second  year  to  disabled  postal  clerks,  supervisory  officers  of 
the  railway  mail  service,  post  office  inspectors,  letter  carriers 
in  the  city  delivery  service,  rural  letter  carriers,  post-office 
clerks,  and  special-delivery  messengers;  and  for  the  payment 
of  $2000  to  the  legal  representatives  of  such  employees  dying 
as  a  result  of  injuries  received  on  duty.8  The  act  ap- 
propriating for  the  Post  Office  Department  for  191 7,  also  in- 
cluded in  the  compensation  provisions,  post-office  laborers 
and  classified  civil-service  employees  in  post  offices   of  the 

3  Act  of  January  28,  1915;  38  Stat.  L.,  802.  * 

4  Act  of  June  2,  1900;  31  Stat.  L.,  259. 

5  Act  of  April  21,  1902;  32  Stat.  L.,  115. 

6  Act  of  May  12,  1910;  36  Stat.  L.,  363. 

7  Act  of  August  24,  1912;  37  Stat.  L.,  549. 

8  Act  of  March  9,  1914;  38  Stat.  L.,  301. 


4       EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

first  and  second  classes.9     This  act  was  superseded  by  the 
present  Compensation  Act. 

First  Efforts  for  General  Act.  Before  the  enactment  of  the 
general  act  of  191 6  many  injured  civil  employees  secured  re- 
lief through  private  acts  of  Congress.  At  each  session  the 
committees  on  claims  of  both  houses  considered  numerous  bills 
containing  private  claims  of  government  employees.  In  sub- 
mitting to  Congress  favorable  reports  concerning  these  bills 
the  committees  at  times  considered  as  many  as  twenty  or  more 
claims  in  one  report.10  Upon  the  authority  of  these  private 
acts,  the  United  States  paid  out  large  sums  of  money.  It  is 
undoubtedly  true  that  the  trouble  involved  in  passing  these 
private  claim  bills  was  a  contributing  cause  to  the  enactment  of 
the  present  general  act. 

Efforts  were  first  made  for  a  general  law  in  the  59th  Con- 
gress (1905-6).  In  the  first  session  of  this  Congress  two 
compensation  bills  of  a  general  character  were  introduced  in 
the  Senate  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary, 
where  they  remained.11  In  the  following  Congress  nine  bills 
of  a  more  or  less  general  character,  providing  compensation 
for  government  employees,  were  introduced  in  the  House  of 
.Representatives,  and  one  such  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Sen- 
ate.12 The  Senate  bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary.  Eight  of  the  House  bills  were  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  and  one  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Reform  in  the  Civil  Service.  One  of  these  bills 
(H.  R.  21,844),  introduced  by  Mr.  Alexander  of  New  York, 
became  the  Compensation  Act  of  May  30,  1908. 

General  Act  of  1908.  The  act  of  1908,  although  more  gen- 
eral in  its  application  than  any  preceeding  statute,  included 
within  its  provisions  ( Section  1 )  "any  person  employed  by  the 

9  Act  of  July  28,  1916;  39  Stat.  L.,  412,  413. 

10  See  for  instance  H.  Rep.  1476,  61  Cong.  2  sess.,  and  569  and  659, 
62  Cong.,  2  sess. 

11  S.  5430  and  S.  6080. 

12  H.  R.  444;  6284;  14,265;  16,734;  17,870;  21,131;  21,308;  21,844; 
and  S.  5555. 


HISTORY  5 

United  States  as  an  artisan  or  laborer  in  any  of  its  manufac- 
turing establishments,  arsenals,  or  navy-yards,  or  in  the  con- 
struction of  river  and  harbor  or  fortification  work  or  in 
hazardous  employment  on  construction  work  in  the  reclam- 
ation of  arid  lands  or  the  management  and  control  of  the  same, 
or  in  hazardous  employment  under  the  Isthmian  Canal  Com- 
mission." It  provided  in  general  that  such  employees  injured 
in  the  course  of  their  employment  should  receive  during  their 
disability  for  the  period  of  a  year,  compensation  at  the  rate 
of  their  former  pay:  and  that  if  such  employees  should  die 
by  reason  of  such  injuries,  their  widows,  children  under  six- 
teen years  of  age,  and  dependent  parents  should  receive  for 
the  remainder  of  the  year  compensation  at  the  rate  of  the  em- 
ployees' former  pay.  The  act  provided  no  compensation  for 
the  first  fifteen  days  of  disability,  if  the  disability  did  not 
continue  for  more  than  fifteen  days,  and  no  medical  and  sur- 
gical relief  for  injured  employees.  The  administration  of  the 
law  was  given  to  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  and 
compensation  was  to  be  paid  from  appropriations  for  the  serv- 
ices where  the  injuries  occurred.  The  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor  delegated  the  work  of  administration  to  the 
Bureau  of  Labor,  where,  in  what  was  then  known  as  the  Law 
and  Research  Division,  the  regulations  and  blank  forms  used 
in  its  original  administration  were  prepared,  and  the  work  of 
establishing  contacts  and  devising  a  system  of  receiving,  ad- 
judicating, and  filing  claims  for  compensation  was  performed. 
Important  questions  of  law  were  decided  by  the  Solicitor  for 
the  department. 

The  act  of  1908  was  amended  from  time  to  time,  to  provide 
for  what  were  considered  peculiar  conditions  in  the  Canal 
Zone,  and  to  extend  its  scope.  Previous  to  the  enactment  of 
this  act,  by  a  regulation  of  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission, 
dated  July  1,  1907,  thirty  days  of  what  was  known  as  "meri- 
torious sick  leave,"  over  and  above  the  ordinary  sick  leave,  was 
allowed  each  year  to  employees  during  disability  resulting  from 
injuries  received  in  the  course  of  employment.     By  a  deci- 


6      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

sion  of  September  i,  1908,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury 
ruled  that  the  Compensation  Act  of  1908  was  exclusive,  and 
that  it  was  not  within  the  power  of  the  Isthmian  Canal  Com- 
mission to  enlarge  or  diminish  the  provisions  of  this  act.13  In 
order  to  provide  compensation  for  employees  of  the  com- 
mission who  were  disabled  less  than  fifteen  days,  and  who  were 
not  engaged  in  "hazardous"  employments,  Congress  passed 
an  act  in  1909  providing  that  the  act  of  1908  shall  not 
prevent  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission  from  granting  "mer- 
itorious sick  leave."  14  Although  the  commission  did  not  avail 
itself  of  this  law,  an  act  of  191 1  widened  the  scope  of  the  act 
of  1908  in  regard  to  employees  of  the  Isthmian  Canal  Com- 
mission by  providing  that  all  employees  of  the  commission 
should  receive  compensation  under  the  act  of  1908.15  This 
same  act  transferred  the  administration  of  the  act  of  1908, 
as  far  as  employees  of  the  commission  were  concerned,  from 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  to  the  commission,  and 
allowed  one  year  for  filing  of  claims  in  case  of  death  instead 
of  ninety  days,  as  in  the  original  act. 

The  Panama  Canal  Act  of  1912  directed  the  President  to 
provide  a  method  for  the  determination  and  adjustment  of  all 
claims  arising  out  of  personal  injuries  to  employees  working 
on  the  canal  or  the  Panama  Railroad.16  Under  authority  of 
this  act,  the  President  in  19 14  issued  an  executive  order  sup- 
erseding the  Compensation  Act  of  1908  as  far  as  the  Isthmian 
Canal  Commission  was  concerned  and  containing  more  liberal 
compensation  provisions  than  had  ever  appeared  in  a  national 
law.17  A  waiting  period  of  four  days  was  provided,  but  no 
compensation  other  than  medical  benefits  was  to  be  paid  unless 
the  disability  should  continue  for  more  than  seven  days.  The 
order  provided  a  fixed  schedule  of  compensation  benefits  for 

13  15  Compt.  Dec,  161. 

14  Act  of  February  24,  1909;  35  Stat.  L.,  645. 

15  Act  of  March  4,  1912 ;  36  Stat.  L.,  1452. 

16  Act  of  August  24,  1912;  37  Stat.  L.,  563. 

17  Executive  Orders  of  February    26,   1913,  March    24,    1913,  and 
March  20,  1914. 


HISTORY  7 

loss  of  parts;  75  per  cent  of  monthly  pay  for  the  first  three 
months  of  disability,  and  50  per  cent  for  the  following  period 
of  disability;  medical  and  surgical  benefits  during  the  whole 
period  of  disability ;  and  certain  percentages  of  previous  wages 
to  widows,  brothers,  sisters,  grandparents,  and  grandchildren 
of  deceased  employees. 

The  act  of  1908  was  amended  from  time  to  time  to  include 
within  its  scope  what  were  considered  hazardous  employments. 
In  1912  the  provisions  of  this  law  were  extended  "to  apply  to 
any  artisan,  laborer,  or  other  employee  engaged  in  any  haz- 
ardous work  under  the  Bureau  of  Mines  or  the  Forestry  Serv- 
ice," 18  and  in  the  same  year  the  law  was  amended  to  include 
hazardous  employments  in  the  Lighthouse  Service.19  On  July 
15,  19 1 5,  by  an  order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  ap- 
proved by  the  President  on  July  20,  the  provisions  of  the  act 
of  1908  were  extended  to  the  employees  of  the  Alaskan  Engin- 
eering Commission,  and  the  compensation  benefits,  which  had 
been  granted  by  the  Chairman  of  that  commission,  were  ex- 
tended even  to  certain  contract  laborers.20 

The  organic  act  of  191 3  creating  the  Department  of  Labor 
included  the  administration  of  the  act  of  1908  among  the 
duties  to  be  retained  and  exercised  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Labor  Statistics  when  his  title  was  changed  from  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor.21  However,  a  month  later  the  Attorney- 
General  decided  that  the  final  authority  to  determine  claims 
rested  in  the  Secretary  of  Labor  and  not  in  the  Commissioner 
of  Labor  Statistics.22 

Present  Act  of  19 16.  The  present  Employees'  Compensa- 
tion Act,  approved  September  7,  19 16,  was  enacted  because  the 

18  Act  of  March  II,  1912;  37  Stat.  L.,  74. 

19  Act  of  July  27,  1912;  37  Stat.  L.,  239. 

20  This  order  was  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under 
authority  granted  by  the  executive  order  of  April  10,  1915,  which 
was  issued  under  authority  granted  by  the  Alaskan  Railroad  Act  of 
March  12,  1914  to  the  President  to  do  "all  necessary  acts  and  things." 
(38  Stat.  L.,  305) 

21  Act  of  March  4,  1913 ;  37  Stat.  L.,  736. 

22  Opinion  of  April  13,  1913 ;  30  Op.  Atty.  Gen.  145. 


8       EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

existing  compensation  legislation  for  United  States  employees 
had  been  found  to  be  inadequate  and  incomplete  in  scope.  Inas- 
much as  the  laws  generally  aimed  to  provide  compensation  only 
for  employees  in  "hazardous"  employments,  about  half  of  the 
persons  in  the  national  civil  service  were  able  to  obtain  com- 
pensation through  the  regular  channels.  Those  employees 
who  were  not  covered  by  the  existing  laws  could  obtain  com- 
pensation, when  injured,  only  through  special  acts  of  Con- 
gress. 

The  compensation  benefits  allowed,  except  in  the  case  of  em- 
ployees working  on  the  Panama  Canal  or  the  Panama  Rail- 
road, were  inadequate  and  unscientific.  The  general  act  of 
1908  provided  for  a  "waiting  period"  of  fifteen  days,  but  for 
the  payment  for  the  full  period  when  injuries  continued  for 
more  than  fifteen  days,  and  therefore  either  resulted  in  a 
hardship  or  encouraged  malingering  in  the  case  of  employees 
whose  disability  would  ordinarily  continue  for  less  than  fifteen 
days.  The  legislation  applying  to  employees  of  the  Life- 
Saving  Service  and  the  Post  Office  Department,  and  the  gen- 
eral act  of  1908,  did  not  provide  medical  or  surgical  relief 
for  injured  employees,  and  allowed  only  limited  cash  benefits 
in  case  of  disability  or  death.  In  the  Life-Saving  Service 
full  pay  could  continue  for  two  years  in  the  case  of  disability, 
and  the  dependents  of  employees  dying  from  the  results  of  in- 
juries received  compensation  amounting  to  the  employees' 
wages  for  two  years.  In  the  Post  Office  Department  full  pay 
could  continue  for  the  first  year  of  disability  and  half -pay 
for  the  second  year  of  disability,  and  compensation  on  account 
of  death  was  a  fixed  sum  of  $2000.  In  services  covered  by 
the  act  of  1908  full  pay  could  continue  for  the  first  year  of  dis- 
ability, and  dependents  of  employees  dying  during  the  first 
year  of  disability  were  entitled  to  the  employees'  salaries 
for  the  remainder  of  this  year.  Thus  the  cash  benefits  al- 
lowed for  disability  or  death  in  all  services  except  in  the 
Canal  Zone  were  inadequate  in  case  of  long  disability  or  death ; 


HISTORY  9 

and  in  the  case  of  disability  for  periods  less  than  a  year  or 
two  years,  the  law  encouraged  malingering. 

The  administration  of  the  compensation  laws,  before  the 
enactment  of  the  present  act,  was  also  inadequate.  There 
was  no  specialized  body  to  determine  whether  compensation 
should  be  allowed  or  refused;  and  it  was  illogical  that  the 
administration  of  the  general  act  of  1908,  which  was  applicable 
to  employees  in  several  services  of  the  government,  should  be 
under  the  Department  of  Labor.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  com- 
pensation to  employees  in  each  service  was  paid  from  ap- 
propriations for  that  particular  service  worked  a  hardship  in 
instances  where  sums  had  been  appropriated  for  designated 
objects. 

Persons  who  felt  the  need  for  a  compensation  law  covering 
all  employees  of  the  United  States  were  actuated  mainly  by  a 
belief  that  it  was  unjust  for  persons  receiving  the  same  injury 
to  be  given  varying  amounts  of  compensation  according  to 
the  service  in  which  they  were  enrolled.  It  was  contended  that 
if  one  schedule  of  compensation  was  fair  the  other  schedules 
were  unfair.  It  was  also  believed  to  be  unjust  that  persons 
disabled  in  "hazardous"  or  "peculiar"  employments  should 
be  compensated  and  that  persons  equally  disabled  in  other  em- 
ployments should  receive  nothing.  Moreover,  the  develop- 
ment of  scientific  compensation  thought  in  Europe  and  in  some 
of  the  American  states  gave  the  advocates  of  a  general  na- 
tional law  something  concrete  and  substantial  to  propose. 

The  need  for  a  comprehensive  compensation  law  was  felt 
both  within  and  without  the  civil  service.  Various  associa- 
tions of  government  employees,  including  the  United  National 
Association  of  Post-Office  Clerks  and  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Letter  Carriers,  officially  indorsed  a  general  compen- 
sation law  drawn  on  the  lines  of  the  one  finally  adopted.  The 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  of  the  Department  of  Labor,  the 
American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  the  Legislative 
Drafting  Fund  of  Columbia  University,  and  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  were  all  working  for  a  liberal  Federal 


io     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

employees'  compensation  law,  and  even  such  disinterested  or- 
ganizations as  the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  came 
out  in  favor  of  such  a  law. 

In  the  first  session  of  the  64th  Congress  seven  compensation 
bills  were  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  three 
were  introduced  in  the  Senate.23  Four  of  the  House  bills  were 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  and  three  were 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Reform  in  the  Civil  Service. 
Two  of  the  Senate  bills  were  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary,  and  the  other  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Education  and  Labor.  A  bill  for  the  relief  of  employees  suf- 
fering injuries  or  occupational  diseases  was  introduced  in  the 
Senate  during  this  same  session,  and  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Judiciary.24 

One  of  the  House  bills,  introduced  by  Mr.  Daniel  T.  Mc- 
Gillicuddy  of  Maine,  became  the  present  Compensation  Act.25 
Little  opposition  was  given  this  bill  in  the  House,  and  on  July 
12  it  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  288  to  6.26  During  the  debate  in 
the  House  several  minor  amendments  were  added,  including 
one  reducing  the  salaries  of  the  three  Commmissioners  from 
$5000  to  $4000. 

In  the  Senate  the  McGillicuddy  bill  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Education  and  Labor  on  July  14,  and  on  July  22 
it  was  reported  favorably  from  committee  with  an  amend- 
ment providing  that  the  commission  could  reduce  the  com- 
pensation as  much  as  25  per  cent  in  proportion  to  the  negli- 
gence of  the  employee.27  In  the  subsequent  debate  this  amend- 
ment was  rejected.28  An  amendment  providing  that  all  clerks 
and  employees  carrying  on  compensation  work  exclusively  in 
the  Department  of  Labor  should  be  transferred  to  the  com- 

23  H.  R.  476;  8,652;  13,621;  15.316;  15,392;  15,393;  I5.394;  and  S. 
2846;  3596;  5975. 
24  S.  604. 
26H.R.  15,316. 

26  Congressional  Record,  64  Cong.,  1  sess.,,  p.  10,915. 

27  Congressional  Record.  64  Cone.,   1   sess.,  pp.   10,991  and  11,519. 

28  Ibid.,  p.  12,896, 


HISTORY  ii 

mission  was  accepted,  and  the  bill  passed  the  Senate  as  amended 
on  August  19  by  a  viva  voce  vote.29 

When  the  bill  was  returned  to  the  House  an  amendment 
was  added  on  August  25  providing  for  the  transfer  of  all  em- 
ployees engaged  in  compensation  work  from  all  government 
establishments  to  the  commission,  and  for  the  abolition  of  all 
other  organizations  in  the  government  administering  compen- 
sation laws.30  The  Senate  disagreed  to  this  amendment  on 
September  2,  and  conferees  were  appointed.31 

The  conference  committee  accepted  the  amendment  of  the 
House,  and  provided  that  the  commission  could  obtain  in 
addition  to  other  reports  such  information  as  might  be  agreed 
to  by  the  commission  and  the  heads  of  the  departments.32 
The  conference  report  was  agreed  to,  and  on  September  7, 
the  bill  was  approved  by  the  President  and  became  the  present 
Employees'  Compensation  Act. 

This  act  provides  in  general  that  the  United  States  shall 
pay  compensation  to  civil  employees  or  their  dependents  for 
disability  or  death  resulting  from  personal  injuries  sustained 
while  in  the  performance  of  duty.33  This  phrase  "personal  in- 
jury sustained  while  in  the  performance  of  duty"  is  unique  in 
workmen's  compensation  legislation.  It  has  been  construed  to 
include  personal  injury  sustained  by  an  employee  while  on  the 
premises  or  other  place  of  employment  provided  he  is  "on 
such  premises  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  or  returning  from  his 
work  or  performing  duties  connected  with  or  incidental  to  his 
work,  and  is  not  on  such  premises  merely  for  purposes  of 
his  own." 

About  400,000  employees  of  the  United  States  were  covered 
by  the  act  when  it  was  approved.  The  schedule  of  compen- 
sation benefits  is  based  upon  the  provisions  of  the  more  liberal 
state  laws,  and  aims  to  give  relief  to  injured  employees  or 

29  Ibid.,  pp.  12,901,  12,902. 

30  Ibid.  p.  13,209. 

31  Ibid.,  pp.  13,670,  13,700. 

32  Ibid.,  p.  13,739. 

33  For  the  text  and  an  analysis  of  the  act,,  see  Appendix  4, 


12      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

their  dependents  without  promoting  malingering.  Although 
the  act  does  not  specifically  mention  occupational  diseases,  it 
has  been  construed  that  it  covers  disabilities  from  nonaccidental 
causes  which  arise  from  service. 

The  act  is  administered  by  a  commission  of  three,  appointed 
by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  one  of  whom  is  designated  by  the  President  as  chair- 
man. A  sum  of  $500,000  was  originally  appropriated  for 
compensation  payments  and  $50,000  for  administrative  ex- 
penses. The  appropriations  for  the  employee's  compensation 
fund  are  continuing,  the  unexpended  balances  being  carried 
over  from  year  to  year. 

Section  42  of  the  act  provides,  "That  the  President  may, 
from  time  to  time,  transfer  the  administration  of  this  Act  so 
far  as  employees  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  of  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company  are  concerned  to  the  Governor  of  the  Pan- 
ama Canal,  and  so  far  as  employees  of  the  Alaskan  Engineer- 
ing Commission  are  concerned  to  the  Chairman  of  that  com- 
mission." In  accordance  with  this  authorization  the  President 
transferred  the  administration  of  the  act  concerning  such  em- 
ployees to  the  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  on  September 
15,  1 916,  and  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Alaskan  Engineering 
Commission  on  September  29,  1916.34 

The  new  act  differed  from  its  predecessors  in  many  impor- 
tant respects.  It  created  a  new  body,  the  United  States  Em- 
ployees' Compensation  Commission,  to  administer  its  provisions 
and  to  pay  compensations  from  a  newly  created  special  com- 
pensation fund,  transferring  the  burden  of  .these  payments 
from  the  various  services  where  the  injuries  were  incurred.  It 
covers  all  civilian  employees  of  the  United  States  government 
instead  of  only  specified  classes. 

Since  July  1,  19 19,  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  ex- 
tended to  the  civilian  employees  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
(except  policemen  and  firemen  for  whom  other  provision  is 
made).     While  the  Employees'  Compensation  Commission  ad- 

34  Executive  Orders  of  September  15,  1916  and  September  29,  1916. 


HISTORY  13 

ministers  the  act  with  regard  to  the  employees  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  the  compensation  is  paid  out  of  funds  specially 
appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  District  of  Columbia.35 

The  act  provides  compensation  for  injuries  resulting  in  dis- 
ability of  more  than  three  days  instead  of  establishing  a  wait- 
ing period  of  fifteen  days.  It  is  much  more  liberal  with  re- 
gard to  the  duration  of  payments.  It  provides  for  medical 
service,  which  the  old  law  did  not  and,  unlike  many  state  laws, 
it  makes  such  service  unlimited  both  as  to  amount  and  time. 
Under  this  act  only  wilful  misconduct,  intoxication,  and  in- 
tent to  bring  about  injury  to  himself  or  to  another  employee 
disqualifies  a  person  from  receiving  compensation  for  injuries 
instead  of  "negligence,"  as  in  the  act  of  1908. 

While  the  new  law  took  effect  on  the  day  of  its  enactment, 
September  7,  19 16,  the  commission  was  not  organized  until 
March  17,  191 7,  when  two  of  the  Commissioners  took  the  oath 
of  office.  The  actual  work  of  the  commission  did  not  begin 
until  about  April  1,  191 7. 

As  the  authority  of  the  Department  of  Labor  and  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  to  administer  compensation  provisions 
ceased  with  the  enactment  of  the  new  laws,  there  was  an  in- 
terim from  September  7,  19 16,  to  March  14,  19 17,  a  period  of 
over  six  months,  during  which  no  one  had  authority  to  inves- 
tigate any  injury  or  to  pass  upon  or  pay  any  claim  for  com- 
pensation.    During  that  period  a  mass  of  work  accumulated. 

When  the  commission  was  organized  it  was  confronted  with : 
(1)  several  hundred  cases  of  injury  which  had  occurred,  but 
had  not  been  settled  by  the  Department  of  Labor  prior  to 
September  7,  1916;  (2)  several  hundred  similar  cases  under 
Post  Office  appropriation  acts;  and  5301  injury  reports  and 
1 5 19  accumulated  claims  for  compensation  for  injuries  under 
the  new  act.  As  no  forms  or  instructions  could  be  issued 
during  this  interim  of  six  months,  the  papers  in  the  claims 
filed  during  this  period  were  in  most  cases  incomplete  and  de- 

35  Act  of  July  11,  1919;  41  Stat  L.,68,  104. 


i4     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

fective.  This  resulted  in  great  hardship  to  the  injured  em- 
ployees and  their  surviving  dependents. 

As  soon  as  quarters  had  been  secured  and  an  organization 
effected,  the  commission  set  to  work  adjudicating  the  many  long 
delayed  claims  for  compensation.  Cases  of  temporary  dis- 
ability were  taken  up  first  because  they  usually  involved  no 
difficult  questions  and  could  be  most  readily  disposed  of.  Bills 
for  medical  and  hospital  services  were  given  second  place. 
Then  followed  permanent  disability  and  death  claims,  the 
latter  requiring  many  details  of  proof  of  marriage,  certificates 
of  birth,  questions  of  guardianship,  dependence,  etc. ;  involv- 
ing much  inquiry  and  delay.  The  commission  next  gave  its 
attention  to  the  working  out  of  a  permanent  system  of  ad- 
ministration. 

The  creation  of  new  war  agencies  and  the  expansion  of  the 
work  in  all  departments  of  the  national  government  on  ac- 
count of  participation  in  the  World  War,  increased  the 
volume  of  work  and  enchanced  the  difficulties  of  the  com- 
mission. On  the  other  hand  the  termination  of  the  war  added 
new  difficulties  to  the  task  of  the  commission,  because  the 
abandonment  of  government  camps  and  establishments,  and 
the  discharge  or  displacement  of  thousands  of  officers  and 
employees  made  it  impossible  in  many  cases  to  get  prompt  and 
adequate  data  concerning  the  claims  for  compensation  that 
were  presented.  Furthermore,  contrary  to  all  expectation, 
instead  of  diminishing,  the  number  of  claims  for  compensation 
increased  during  the  first  fiscal  year  following  the  Armistice. 

The  commission,  while  meeting  these  pressing  temporary 
problems,  has  gradually  worked  out  a  permanent  system  of  ad- 
ministration. During  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  a  survey 
was  conducted  for  about  four  months  to  ascertain  the  con- 
ditions under  which  work  in  the  government  establishments 
was  carried  on,  and  the  means  that  could  be  provided  for  ac- 
cident prevention.  As  the  best  means  to  this  end  the  com- 
mission accepted  the  services  of  officers  and  safety  engineers 
connected  with  the  National  Safety  Council  and  the  National 


HISTORY  15 

Museum  of  Safety,  who  were  loaned  to  the  commission  and 
were  employed  as  "dollar-a-year  men,"  and  who  made  the 
survey  under  the  direction  of  the  commission  and  with  the 
cooperation  of  the  various  government  departments  and  an 
advisory  committee  representing  them.  As  a  result  of  this 
survey,  many  cases  of  avoidable  hazards  were  pointed  out  by 
experienced  safety  engineers  and  steps  were  taken  to  prevent 
them,  and  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy  and  War  appointed 
safety  engineers  for  all  the  important  navy  yards  and  arsenals. 


CHAPTER  II 
ACTIVITIES 

The  United  States  Employees'  Compensation  Commission 
is  created  by  and  entrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  Em- 
ployees' Compensation  Act.  The  commission  interprets  the 
act,  makes  and  publishes  regulations,  considers  all  claims  for 
compensation,  decides  whether  the  injured  employees  or  their 
beneficiaries  are  entitled  to  compensation  and  determines  the 
amount  of  compensation  to  be  awarded,  and  organizes  and 
furnishes  the  medical  service  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  act.  The  power  of  interpretation  and  award  is  exercised 
only  by  the  commission  and  is  in  no  case  delegated  to  any  agent 
or  other  officer. 

Under  the  Employee's  Compensation  Act  the  commission 
passes  upon  all  claims  for  compensation  arising  out  of  injuries 
sustained  by  employees  of  the  United  States  government  while 
in  the  performance  of  their  duty.  The  compensation  granted 
under  previous  acts  ceased  for  injuries  sustained  on  and  after 
September  7,  191 6,  when  the  present  law  was  approved,  and 
the  settlement  of  all  pending  claims  and  of  all  claims  arising 
subsequent  to  that  date  was  transferred  from  existing  ad- 
ministrative services  to  the  commission.  Unsettled  claims  for 
injuries  sustained  prior  to  that  date  were  acted  upon  by  the 
commission  by  passing  upon  the  facts  in  each  case  and  report- 
ing its  findings  to  the  government  establishment  concerned, 
no  payments  being  made  by  the  commission  in  such  cases. 

At  the  time  of  the  approval  of  the  present  act,  compensation 
acts  of  various  characters  were  being  administered  in  the  fol- 
lowing services : 

16 


ACTIVITIES  17 

1.  The  Coast  Guard,  administering  act  of  1882,  amended 
by  acts  of  1908  and  19 15,  applying  to  employees  of  the 
Coast  Guard. 

2.  The  Post  Office  Department,  administering  provisions 
appearing  in  appropriation  acts  since  1900,  applying  to 
certain  employees   of  that  department. 

3.  The  Department  of  Labor,  administering  general  act  of 
1908,  applying  to  certain  "hazardous"  employments  in 
government  services. 

4.  The  government  of  the  Panama  Canal  and  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company,  administering  Executive  Order  of 
1 914  in  pursuance  of  the  act  of  1908,  applying  to  em- 
ployees of  those  two  services. 

5.  The  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission,  administering 
Executive  Order  of  191 5,  extending  provisions  of  general 
act  of  1908  to  employees  of  the  commission. 

All  of  these  acts  were  superseded  by  the  present  general  act. 

Soon  after  the  enactment  of  the  present  law,  the  administra- 
tion of  the  act  was  transferred  by  executive  orders  to  the 
Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal,  in  the  case  of  employees  of  the 
Panama  Canal  and  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  and  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission,  in  the  case 
of  employees  of  that  commission.  These  organizations  pay 
the  compensations  for  injuries  to  their  respective  employees, 
but  are  reimbursed  for  such  payments  out  of  the  Employees' 
Compensation  Fund.  Since  July  1,  19 19,  the  administration 
of  the  act  has  been  extended  to  employees  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  but  the  compensations  are  paid  out  of  appropria- 
tions for  that  government. 

The  amount  and  character  of  the  benefits  paid  to  benefici- 
aries under  this  act  are  shown  in  the  analysis  and  text  of  the 
act  in  the  Appendix  4. 

Rules  and  Regulations.  As  the  activities  of  the  commission 
extend  to  nearly  all  branches  of  the  government  service,  where 
the  cooperation  of  officers  and  employees  is  necessary  for  the 


18      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

administration  of  the  compensation  service,  it  is  essential  that 
there  should  be  uniformity  of  procedure  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  enforcement  of  the  Compensation  Act.  The 
act  therefore  gives  the  commission  authority  to  make  neces- 
sary rules  and  regulations  for  its  enforcement.  Such  rules 
and  regulations  have  been  made  and  published  and  have  been 
distributed  to  the  several  government  organizations  having 
use  for  them. 

Publicity.  The  commission  considers  as  one  of  its  duties 
the  giving  of  publicity  to  the  Employees'  Compensation  Act 
by  bringing  its  provisions  to  the  attention  of  officers  and  em- 
ployees in  the  service.  To  this  end,  it  has  requested  every  gov- 
ernment office  to  display,  in  a  conspicuous  place,  a  poster 
furnished  by  the  commission;  it  has  furnished  to  each  such 
office  for  distribution  to  every  employee,  a  leaflet  notifying 
employees  of  the  provisions  of  the  law  and  instructing  them 
concerning  the  necessary  procedure  in  case  of  injury;  and  it 
encourages  employees'  associations  to  publish  the  law  and 
references  thereto.  The  Postal  Guide  also  contains,  in  each  of 
its  yearly  issues,  a  brief  statement  of  the  provisions  of  the  law. 

Administering  Compensation  Awards.  The  Compensation 
Act  (Section  36)  provides  that  "The  Commission,  upon  con- 
sideration of  the  claim  presented  by  the  beneficiary  and  the 
report  furnished  by  the  immediate  superior  and  the  com- 
pletion of  such  investigation  as  it  may  deem  necessary,  shall 
determine  and  make  findings  of  facts  thereon  and  make  an 
award  for  or  against  payment  of  the  compensation  provided  for 
in  the  act."  The  awards  made  by  the  commission  are  either 
for  or  against  the  payments  of  compensation  and  for  the  con- 
tinuance, increase,  or  decrease  of  compensation  already  granted, 
in  accordance  with  the  facts  presented  in  the  reports  of  injury, 
in  the  claim  and  its  accompanying  papers,  and  as  ascertained 
through  subsequent  inquiry.  The  commission  also  acts  with 
regard  to  recoveries  from  third  parties  who  are  liable  for  in- 
juries to  government  employees. 


ACTIVITIES  19 

All  claims,  certificates,  and  other  required  papers  are  made 
on  prescribed  forms,  copies  of  which  are  supplied  as  needed. 
The  employees  fill  in  these  forms  with  the  help  of  their  supe- 
rior officers,  who  are  required  to  render  this  assistance.  These 
forms  are  so  designed  and  the  instructions  given  by  the 
commission  and  by  the  superior  officer  are  so  complete  that 
no  private  attorneys'  services  are  needed. 

Incidental  to  the  granting  and  refusing  of  compensation 
awards,  notices  and  reports  of  injuries  are  required  of  em- 
ployees and  their  official  superiors.  The  Compensation  Act 
provides  (Sections  15-16)  that:  "Every  employee  injured  in 
the  performance  of  his  duty,  or  some  one  on  his  behalf,  shall 
within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  injury,  give  written  notice 
thereof  to  the  immediate  superior  of  the  employee.  .  .  .  The 
notice  shall  state  the  name  and  address  of  the  employee,  the 
year,  month,  day  and  hour  when  and  the  particular  locality 
where  the  injury  occurred,  and  the  cause  and  nature  of  the 
injury,  and  shall  be  signed  by  and  contain  the  address  of  the 
person  giving  the  notice." 

The  act  further  provides  (Section  24)  that:  "Immediately 
after  an  injury  to  an  employee  resulting  in  his  death  or  in  his 
probable  disability,  his  immediate  superior  shall  make  a  report 
to  the  Commission  containing  such  information  as  the  Com- 
mission may  require,  and  shall  thereafter  make  such  supple- 
mentary reports  as  the  Commission  may  require,"  and  (Sec- 
tion 28a)  that  the  commission  may  obtain  in  addition  "such 
information  and  such  reports  from  employees  of  the  depart- 
ments as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  the  Commission  and  the  heads 
of  the  respective  departments." 

In  accordance  with  these  provisions  the  commission  has  ar- 
ranged with  all  the  departments  and  other  establishments  of 
the  government  for  the  rendering  of  notices  and  reports  of  in- 
juries to  government  employees  sustained  while  in  the  perfor- 
mance of  their  duties.  These  notices  and  reports  are  ren- 
dered and  are  filed  in  the  office  of  the  commission  even  if  no 


20      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

subsequent  claim  for  compensation  is  made.  The  notices  and 
reports  are  made  on  prescribed  forms. 

Whenever  an  injury  occurs  to  an  employee  he,  or  some  one 
on  his  behalf,  gives  notice  of  the  fact  (Notice  of  Injury), 
within  forty-eight  hours,  to  the  immediate  superior. 

If  the  injury  results  in  any  medical  charge  against  the  com- 
mission or  in  any  loss  of  time  other  than  the  remainder  of  the 
day  or  shift  on  which  the  injury  occurred,  a  report  is  made 
by  the  official  superior  to  the  commission  (Report  of  Injury). 

Each  claim  for  compensation  must  be  prepared  on  the 
proper  form.  Two  forms  are  used  (Claim  for  Compensation 
on  Account  of  Injury  and  Claim  for  Compensation  on  Account 
of  Death). 

The  claim  for  compensation  on  account  of  injury  contains 
such  detailed  information  concerning  the  injured  employee  and 
the  disability  as  is  necessary  to  obtain  a  proper  understanding 
of  the  case,  prepared,  signed,  and  sworn  to  by  the  injured 
employee  or  some  one  on  his  behalf;  statements  of  witnesses 
to  the  injury;  a  statement  of  the  establishment  medical  officer 
if  there  be  one;  a  certificate  of  the  attending  physician;  and 
a  certificate  of  the  official  superior  of  the  injured  employee. 

The  claim  for  compensation  on  account  of  death  contains  a 
similar  statement  concerning  the  deceased  employee,  the  re- 
lationship of  and  other  descriptive  information  concerning 
the  claimant,  and  a  list  of  other  relatives  entitled  to  compensa- 
tion, signed  and  sworn  to  by  the  claimant.  This  is  accom- 
panied by  a  physician's  certificate,  a  certificate  of  the  official 
superior,  and  other  evidence  to  establish  the  right  to  com- 
pensation, such  as  a  widow's  affidavit  that  she  was  living 
with  or  dependent  upon  the  man  at  the  time  of  his  death; 
a  father's  and  mother's  affidavit  showing  dependency;  birth 
certificates  in  the  case  of  children,  etc. 

The  claim  for  compensation  on  account  of  injury  must 
be  filed,  as  a  rule,  by  the  claimant  within  sixty  days  after  the 
injury  causing  the  disability  for  more  than  three  days,  with 
the  official  superior,  who,  in  turn,  transmits  it  immediately  to 


ACTIVITIES  21 

the  commission.  The  law  requires  that  claims  for  compen- 
sation on  account  of  death  be  filed  within  one  month  after 
death  occurs.  Discretion  is  given  the  commission,  however, 
in  either  case,  to  consider  a  claim  if  filed  within  one  year  of 
the  date  of  injury  or  death.  In  practice,  if  the  evidence  is 
otherwise  good,  the  commission  allows  a  claim  for  compen- 
sation on  account  of  injury  or  death  if  made  within  a  year. 

Each  claim  for  compensation  either  on  account  of  disability 
or  death  is  required  to  be  preceded  or  accompanied  by  a  no- 
tice and  report  of  injury,  as  above  described. 

Special  reports  are  called  for  only  when  additional  evidence 
or  other  information  is  needed  to  settle  a  claim  for  com- 
pensation. 

All  notices  and  reports  of  injuries  and  claims  for  com- 
pensation received  by  the  commission  are  serially  numbered 
as  soon  as  received,  each  case  of  injury  receiving  a  separate 
number;  and  all  papers  in  the  case,  including  claims,  receiving 
the  same  number. 

For  each  report  of  an  injury  received  by  the  commission  an 
index  card  is  prepared.  This  card  contains  the  name  of  the 
employee,  the  serial  number  of  the  case,  the  date  of  injury, 
the  date  of  beginning  of  disability,  and  the  name  of  the  service 
in  which  employed.  These  index  cards  are  filed  alphabet- 
ically by  name,  and  are  never  withdrawn  from  the  file. 

Each  report  of  an  injury  is  placed  in  a  folder  and  filed  seri- 
ally in  a  case  file,  and  all  claims  and  other  papers  relating  to 
the  same  case,  after  being  numbered,  are  placed  in  the  same 
folder  in  chronological  order. 

Record  cards  summarizing  the  important  facts  concerning 
each  case  of  injury  are  punched  for  statistical  purposes. 

All  the  work  of  receiving,  indexing,  assembling  and  filing, 
and  following  up  reports  concerning  injuries  up  to  the  time 
of  filing  claims  is  done  in  the  Assembly  Division.  After  the 
formal  claim  is  in,  the  Claims  Division  handles  the  papers 
and  conducts  the  correspondence.  The  Assembly  Division 
has  the  custody  of  all  the  papers  relating  to  injury  reports 


22      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

and  claims  of  the  commission,  and  keeps  a  record  of  the  lo- 
cation of  such  papers  while  in  use  and  removed  from  the  files. 

When  a  claim  is  received  in  the  Assembly  Division  it  is 
given  the  serial  number  of  the  notice  and  report  which  have 
preceded  or  which  accompany  it,  and  the  proper  notation  is 
made  on  the  index  and  record  cards.  It  is  then  passed  on  to 
the  Claims  Division. 

In  the  Claims  Division  an  examination  is  made  of  the  state- 
ments contained  in  the  claims,  the  notice  and  report  of  the 
injury  and  other  papers  that  may  accompany  them.  If  deemed 
necessary,  additional  information  is  called  for. 

Claims  in  which  the  awarding  of  compensation  depends  upon 
medical  questions  that  require  interpretation,  cases  in  which  the 
real  cause  or  nature  of  the  injury,  disability,  or  death  is  in 
doubt,  or  cases  in  which  the  opinions  or  statements  of  medical 
officers  and  attending  physicians  differ,  are  referred  to  the 
Medical  Director  of  the  Commission.  The  papers  in  each 
case  are  returned  by  the  Medical  Division  to  the  Commis- 
sioners or  to  the  Claims  Division. 

The  commission  makes  all  awards.  Each  claim  is  examined 
by  two  of  the  claim  examiners.  If  they  agree  that  compen- 
sation should  be  awarded  and  that  the  case  does  not  contain 
any  matter  of  doubt,  they  pass  the  claim  as  allowed,  and  it 
goes  through  and  is  approved  by  the  Commissioners  as  a 
routine  case.  If  they  find,  however,  that  there  is  some  doubt, 
the  case  is  referred  to  the  commission. 

If  any  question  as  to  the  action  which  should  be  taken  upon 
a  claim  arises  in  the  mind  of  the  Chief  Claim  Examiner,  he 
refers  the  case  for  decision,  with  a  memorandum  of  the  es- 
sential facts,  to  one  of  the  Commissioners.  The  latter  care- 
fully examines  the  claims,  and  then  makes  a  notation  of  his 
findings  and  the  reason  therefor  and  sends  the  case  to  the 
other  Commissioners,  who  in  turn  take  similar  action.  If 
the  Commissioners  disagree,  they  confer  in  regard  to  the 
case  and  usually  come  to  an  agreement.  Before  making  the 
decision,  the  Commissioner  having  a  case  in  hand  sometimes 


ACTIVITIES  23 

consults  with  the  Chief  Claim  Examiner,  the  Chief  Medical 
Examiner,  the  Attorney,  or  the  Chief  of  Accounts,  according  to 
the  question  that  arises.  Sometimes  questions  are  referred  by 
the  Commissioners  or  by  the  Disbursing  Officer  to  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  for  decision. 

In  examining  the  merits  of  a  claim  the  Commissioners 
may  find  it  necessary  to  visit  the  claimant  and  his  superior 
officer  and  examine  them  and  others  concerning  the  facts 
in  the  case.  These  investigations  are  sometimes  made  by 
individual  Commissioners,  but  usually  they  are  made  by  a 
special  agent  of  the  commission.  In  the  examination  of 
cases  the  Commissioners  have  authority  to  issue  subpoenas 
for  and  to  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  within  a  ra- 
dius of  one  hundred  miles;  they  may  require  the  production 
of  books,  papers,  documents,  and  other  evidence,  and  adminis- 
ter oaths  and  examine  witnesses. 

A  claimant  for  or  a  recipient  of  compensation  must  sub- 
mit to  medical  examination,  either  before  an  award  is  made 
or  while  he  is  receiving  compensation.  In  this  matter  the 
Compensation  Act  provides  (Section  21)  : 

After  the  injury  the  employee  shall,  as  frequently  and  at 
such  times  and  places  as  may  be  reasonably  required,  submit 
himself  to  examination  by  a  medical  officer  of  the  United 
States  or  by  a  duly  qualified  physician  designated  or  approved 
by  the  commission.  The  employee  may  have  a  duly  qualified 
physician  designated  and  paid  by  him  present  to  participate  in 
such  examination.  For  all  examinations  after  the  first  the 
employee  shall,  in  the  discretion  of  the  commission,  be  paid 
his  reasonable  traveling  and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages 
incurred  in  order  to  submit  to  such  examination.  If  the  em- 
ployee refuses  to  submit  himself  for  or  in  any  way  obstructs 
any  examination,  his  right  to  claim  compensation  under  this 
Act  shall  be  suspended  until  such  refusal  or  obstruction  ceases. 
No  compensation  shall  be  payable  while  such  refusal  or  ob- 
struction continues,  and  the  period  of  such  refusal  or  obstruc- 
tion shall  be  deducted  from  the  period  for  which  compensation 
is  payable  to  him. 


24     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

This  section  is  designed  to  give  the  commission  authority 
to  compel  a  person  receiving  compensation  for  injury  to  sub- 
mit to  examination  at  the  hands  of  a  physician  of  the  commis- 
sion's choice  at  any  time,  in  order  to  verify  his  claim. 

Aside  from  the  monetary  compensation,  any  employee 
when  injured  is  entitled  to  medical  treatment.  This  treat- 
ment to  which  he  is  entitled  is  ( i )  by  a  government  physician 
when  available;  (2)  by  a  designated  physician  if  a  government 
physician  is  not  available;  or  (3)  by  any  physician  of  his 
choice  if  neither  a  government  physician  nor  a  designated 
physician  is  available.  In  the  latter  case  the  commission  pays 
all  reasonable  bills  for  such  treatment. 

A  regulation  of  the  commission  provides  that  no  compen- 
sation will  be  paid  on  account  of  the  death  or  disability  of  an 
employee,  "if  his  death  is  caused,  or  if  and  in  so  far  as  dis- 
ability is  caused,  continued,  or  aggravated  by  an  unreasonable 
refusal  to  submit  to  medical  treatment  or  to  any  surgical 
treatment,  the  risk  of  which  is  inconsiderable,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  Commission,  based  upon  expert  medical  or  surgical  ad- 
vice." In  practice  the  commission  has  never  denied  com- 
pensation because  an  employee  refused  treatment,  unless  that 
treatment  was  a  surgical  operation,  the  risk  of  which  was 
inconsiderable.  If  a  minor  surgical  operation  is  advised  and 
the  employee  refuses  to  submit,  the  commission  does  not  refuse 
compensation  on  that  account. 

Section  22  of  the  Compensation  Act  provides  that  "in  case 
of  any  disagreement  between  the  physician  making  an  ex- 
amination on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  the  employee's 
physician  the  Commission  shall  appoint  a  third  physician, 
duly  qualified,  who  shall  make  an  examination."  Whenever 
such  disagreement  arises,  the  commission,  through  its  Chief 
Medical  Officer,  appoints  a  special  physician  to  make  an  ex- 
amination of  the  injured  employee,  whose  report,  together 
with  the  statements  of  the  medical  officer  and  the  employee's 
physician  and  all  other  papers  in  the  case  are  submitted  to  the 
commission,  which  makes  the  final  decision. 


ACTIVITIES  25 

When  compensation  is  awarded  by  the  commission,  the  fact 
of  the  award  is  certified  by  the  Chairman  and  a  notice  of  the 
award  is  sent'  to  the  claimant  and  to  the  injured  employee's 
superior  officer. 

There  is  no  appeal  from  the  decisions  of  the  commission, 
either  to  a  higher  authority  or  to  the  courts.  The  commission, 
however,  will  always  consent  to  review  a  case  upon  additional 
evidence  being  presented,  and  it  will  permit  additional  ex- 
amination whenever  there  is  any  plausible  ground. 

The  claim  with  all  its  accompanying  papers  is  returned  to 
the  Claims  Division,  and  if  compensation  is  awarded  the 
claimant's  name  is  placed  on  the  compensation  pay  roll, 
which  is  prepared  in  that  division,  and  submitted  to  the  Chief 
of  Accounts,  whose  duties  are  those  of  a  disbursing  clerk,  and 
who  issues  the  checks  for  payment  and  keeps  account  of  the 
same.  An  important  duty  of  this  officer  is  to  audit  the  com- 
putations that  are  made  by  the  Claims  Division. 

While  matters  of  fact  and  of  policy  with  regard  to  com- 
pensable disability  of  claimants  are  not  questioned  by  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  if  awards  of  compensation  are 
made  which  are  contrary  to  the  terms  of  the  Compensation 
Act,  such  payments  are  disallowed  by  the  Comptroller,  and  the 
Chief  of  Accounts  is  held  responsible.  The  Chief  of  Ac- 
counts, therefore,  for  his  own  protection,  must  examine  each 
claim  in  order  to  assure  himself  that  the  award  was  made  in 
accordance  with  law.  In  any  case  where  compensation  is 
paid  under  a  mistake  of  law  or  of  fact,  the  commission  is  re- 
quired (Section  38)  to  cancel  immediately  any  such  award, 
and  recover,  as  far  as  practicable,  any  amount  which  has  been 
so  paid,  and  to  place  the  amount  so  recovered  to  the  credit  of 
the  employees'  compensation  fund. 

Continuing  compensation  awards  are  reviewed  by  the  com- 
mission whenever  it  sees  fit,  either  on  its  own  motion  or  on 
application.  In  doing  so  it  may  call  for  evidence,  order 
examinations,  and  take  such  other  steps  as  are  indicated  in 
connection  with  the  awarding  of  compensations. 


26      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

In  accordance  with  the  facts  so  ascertained  the  commission 
terminates,  diminishes,  or  increases  compensations  previously 
awarded,  or  awards  compensations  previously  refused.  Thus, 
in  the  case  of  old  persons  it  may  decrease  the  compensation 
and  in  the  case  of  minors  or  learners  it  may  increase  it,  if  it 
appears  that  if  the  disability  did  not  exist  the  present  earning 
capacity  would  be  less  or  greater,  respectively,  at  present  than 
it  was  at  the  time  of  the  injury.  Likewise,  the  commission 
readjusts  the  apportionment  of  compensation  when  on  account 
of  marriage,  death,  the  birth  of  a  posthumous  child,  or  for 
some  other  reason,  the  apportionment  among  a  group  of 
beneficiaries  must  be  changed. 

The  commission  is  authorized  to  modify  the  apportionment 
of  compensation  prescribed  in  the  act  when  two  or  more  classes 
of  persons  are  entilted  to  compensation  and  the  legally  pre- 
scribed   apportionment  would  result  in  injustice. 

Persons  receiving  compensation  for  injuries  sustained  are 
required  to  make  affidavit  periodically  that  the  condition  on 
which  the  award  is  based  still  exists. 

The  commission  is  authorized  to  grant  lump  sum  payments 
in  lieu  of  periodical  payments,  if  the  amount  is  less  than  $5 
per  month;  if  the  beneficiary  is  about  to  become  a  non-resident 
of  the  United  States;  or  if  the  commission  determines  that 
it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  the  beneficiary. 

Directing  and  Conducting  Damage  Suits  Against  Third 
Parties.  Sections  26  and  27  of  the  Compensation  Act  provide 
that  if  injury  or  death  for  which  compensation  is  payable  is 
caused  under  circumstances  creating  liability  upon  some  person 
other  than  the  United  States  to  pay  damages,  the  commission 
is  to  require  the  beneficiary  either  to  assign  his  right  of  action 
to  the  United  States  or  to  prosecute  such  action  in  his  own 
name  and  arrange  for  a  refund  to  the  United  States  in  case 
settlement  is  made.  Provision  is  made  in  the  act  whereby 
the  compensation  fund  is  reimbursed  out  of  the  money  or  other 
property  so  received  for  any  compensation  made  or  to  be  made 


ACTIVITIES  27 

on  account  of  the  injury,  and  the  balance  is  retained  by  the 
injured  employee. 

The  suits  for  recovery  are  handled  by  the  Legal  Division, 
and  when  the  papers  in  such  a  case  are  received  in  the  Assem- 
bly Division  they  are  usually  routed  direct  to  that  division. 
The  third-party  cases  usually  have  been  conducted  by  the 
claimants  themselves.  When  the  commission  considers  that 
a  government  employee  has  a  reasonably  good  case,  it  advises 
him  to  prosecute,  and  if  desired,  assists  him  in  the  selection 
of  an  attorney. 

Administration  of  Medical  Relief.     Section  9  of  the  Com- 
pensation Act  provide  that : 

Immediately  after  an  injury  sustained  by  an  employee  while 
in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  whether  or  not  disability  has 
arisen,  and  for  a  reasonable  time  thereafter,  the  United  States 
shall  furnish  to  such  employee  reasonable  medical,  surgical, 
and  hospital  services  and  supplies  unless  he  refuses  to  accept 
them.  Such  services  and  supplies  shall  be  furnished  by  United 
States  medical  officers  and  hospitals,  but  where  this  is  not  prac- 
ticable shall  be  furnished  by  private  physicians  and  hospitals 
designated  or  approved  by  the  commission  and  paid  for  from 
the  employees'  compensation  fund.  If  necessary  for  the  se- 
curing of  proper  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  treatment,  the 
employee,  in  the  discretion  of  the  commission,  may  be  furn- 
ished transportation  at  the  expense  of  the  employees'  com- 
pensation fund. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  by  the  Medical  Director 
to  utilize  the  services  of  any  hospital  or  dispensary  maintained 
by  the  United  States  Public  Health  Service.  Civilians  em- 
ployed in  the  vicinity  of  permanent  or  fixed  Army  hospitals 
may  be  admitted  to  such  institutions  upon  the  request  of  their 
superior  officers.  When  it  is  not  practicable  to  obtain  treat- 
ment from  a  United  States  hospital  or  dispensary,  treatment 
may  be  obtained  from  any  physician  designated  by  the  com- 
mission. Employees  may  also  employ  a  physician  of  their 
own  choice  at  their  own  expense. 


f 


28     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Information  is  kept  constantly  on  hand  in  convenient  form 
whereby  the  location  of  relief  stations  and  medical  officers 
available  in  cases  of  injury  and  the  means  of  transportation 
to  the  same,  may  be  instantly  ascertained,  and  notice  is  given  to 
every  government  office  of  the  medical  facilities  that  are  avail- 
able. 

Services  rendered  by  hospitals  and  surgeons  of  the  United 
States  government  are  not  paid  for  by  the  commission. 
Where  private  hospitals  are  under  contract  with  the  Public 
Health  Service,  the  commission  obtains  treatment  for  its  pa- 
tients at  the  same  contract  rate. 

Designated  physicians  and  others  authorized  to  render  medi- 
cal services  to  injured  civil  employees  of  the  government  are 
paid  the  customary  fees  for  their  services  and  are  reimbursed 
for  medicines  and  appliances  furnished.  For  this  purpose, 
a  list  of  standard  fees  for  medical  treatment,  prepared  from 
answers  to  inquiries  sent  to  state  medical  associations  and 
from  other  sources,  is  kept  on  hand  and  up  to  date.  Bills 
for  such  services  and  supplies  are  rendered  by  the  physicians 
direct  to  the  commission.  They  are  examined  and  acted  upon 
in  the  Medical  Claims  Division  for  recommendation  to  the 
commission,  and  if  approved  are  certified  to  the  Chief  of  Ac- 
counts for  payment.  When  government  and  designated  hos- 
pital facilities  are  not  available,  employees  are  permitted  to 
employ  their  own  physicians  and  recover  payment  from  the 
commission. 

Compiling  Statistics.  The  commission  compiles  such  facts 
concerning  the  causes,  nature  and  frequency  of  injuries, 
the  cost  of  compensation  and  other  payments,  and  other  mat- 
ters as  it  needs  in  the  administration  of  the  Compensation  Act. 
One  of  the  first  duties  of  this  character  undertaken  was  the 
analysis  and  compilation  of  facts  contained  in  statements  re- 
ceived from  state  medical  associations  prepared  in  response 
to  form  letters  sent  out  by  the  commission  asking  for  standards 
for  payment  of-  industrial  medical  service. 


ACTIVITIES 

Estimates  and  Reports.  In  accordance  with  Sections  31  and 
33  of  the  Compensation  Act  the  commission  submits  annually 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  estimates  of  necessary 
appropriations  and  to  Congress  annual  reports  of  its  opera- 
tions. 


CHAPTER  III 
ORGANIZATION 

The  Employees'  Compensation  Commission  consists  of  three 
members  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  ad- 
vice and  consent  of  the  Senate.  It  has  a  force  of  nearly  eighty 
employees,  all  of  whom  are  appointed  in  accordance  with  the 
civil  service  rules. 

The  work  of  the  Employees'  Compensation  Commission  is 
carried  on  in  the  offices  of  the  Commissioners  and  of  the  Secre- 
tary, and  in  seven  divisions,  namely,  Assembly,  Claims,  Medi- 
cal, Medical  Claims,  Legal,  Statistical,  and  Disbursing  divi- 
sions. There  are  three  Commissioners,  one  of  whom  has  been 
designated  by  the  President  as  chairman. 

Offices  of  the  Commissioners.  Each  of  the  three  Commis- 
sioners maintains  a  separate  office.  The  Chairman  is  the  chief 
administrative  head  of  the  commission,  and  approves  by  sig- 
nature or  initial  all  awards,  orders  for  payment,  and  other 
executive  acts  of  the  commission.  Otherwise,  the  duties  of 
the  three  Commissioners  are  identical,  namely,  the  exercising 
of  the  quasi- judicial  and  quasi-executive  functions  of  settling 
claims  and  making  compensation  awards,  the  Commissioners 
individually  examining  the  doubtful  cases  and  such  as 
involve  new  questions  of  policy. 

Secretary's  Office.  The  Secretary  peforms  such  duties  as 
are  commonly  performed  by  the  chief  clerks  of  departments 
and  independent  establishments.  He  has  charge  of  the  per- 
sonnel records;  the  purchasing  of  supplies;  the  ordering  of 
publications,  such  as  reports,  regulations,  forms,  publicity 
matter,  etc. ;  conducting  general  correspondence ;  and  keeping 
official  records.  He  is  responsible  for  all  records  and  files  of 
the  commission,  and  for  that  reason  the  Assembly  Division, 

30 


ORGANIZATION  31 

which  has  the  custody  of  the  files,  although  it  is  ranked  as 
a  division,  is  under  his  immediate  supervision.  He  also 
has  the  duties  of  an  appointment  clerk.  The  personnel  of 
the  Secretary's  office  consists  of  the  Secretary  and  three 
other  employees. 

Assembly  Division.  This  is  the  central  exchange  or  clear- 
ing house  for  all  official  papers  of  the  commission.  It  receives, 
reads,  and  routes  all  the  mail  of  the  commission;  receives, 
records,  indexes,  and  distributes  the  reports  of  injuries  and 
claims  for  compensation ;  follows  up  each  injury  report  to  see 
that  all  subsequent  reports  and  other  papers  necessary  to  the 
completion  of  a  case  are  submitted  as  promptly  as  possible  so 
that  the  rights  of  both  the  commission  and  the  claimants  are 
properly  protected;  and  it  has  charge  of  all  files  and  indexes  of 
cases. 

When  the  necessary  papers  are  assembled  to  constitute  a 
complete  claim,  the  case  is  numbered  and  the  papers  are  placed 
in  a  jacket  and  transmitted  to  the  Claims  Division,  which  takes 
all  subsequent  action  in  the  case.  A  record  is  kept  in  the  As- 
sembly Division  of  the  location  of  the  papers  of  each  case 
as  they  pass  from  hand  to  hand  until  their  return  to  the  files. 

Three  case  files  are  kept  in  this  division;  an  assembly  file 
of  cases  in  the  course  of  assembly;  a  pending  file  of  cases 
under  consideration,  awaiting  correspondence,  or  on  account 
of  which  compensation  is  being  paid ;  and  a  final  file  of  closed 
cases.  The  personnel  of  this  division  consists  of  a  chief  and 
fourteen  other  employees. 

Claims  Division.  The  Claim  Division  examines  each  case 
in  order  to  determine  whether  the  facts  presented  are  such  as 
to  bring  it  within  the  provisions  of  the  Compensation  Act; 
handles  special  inquiries,  except  medical,  concerning  injuries 
in  claim  cases;  notifies  claimants  of  awards  or  disallowances; 
and  prepares  the  pay  roll  for  compensation  payments  to  be 
made  by  the  Disbursing  Office. 


32      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Each  case  is  scrutinized  to  see  whether  the  accident  occurred 
in  the  performance  of  duty,  whether  the  injury  was  caused  by 
willful  misconduct,  drunkenness,  or  intention  to  injure,  whether 
the  injured  person  was  a  civil  employee  of  the  United  States, 
etc.  If  the  Chief  Claim  Examiner  in  charge  of  the  division 
is  not  satisfied  with  the  facts  presented,  he  initiates  the  corres- 
pondence or  the  investigation  which  will  develop  the  infor- 
mation needed. 

When  the  facts  are  all  in  and  there  is  a  doubt  as  to  the 
course  to  be  pursued,  or  the  proper  decision  to  be  made,  he 
refers  the  case  to  the  Commissioners  for  action,  accompanied 
by  an  abstract  of  the  case  setting  forth  the  points  at  issue. 
If  medical  questions  arise  or  when  medical  examinations  or 
treatment  are  to  be  considered,  he  transmits  the  case  to  the 
Medical  Division. 

In  many  cases  the  facts  are  so  clear  and  there  is  such  an 
abundance  of  precedents  that  the  claims  are  adjusted  and  the 
awards  recommended  by  the  Chief  Claim  Examiner  to  the 
Commissioners.  In  such  cases  the  recommendations  are  usually 
approved  by  the  Commissioners  as  a  matter  of  routine,  and 
the  cases  receive  no  further  attention  from  either  the  Com- 
missioners or  the  Chief  Medical  Examiner. 

The  Claims  Division  upon  the  direction  of  the  commission 
also  directs  the  field  investigations  that  are  made  from  time 
to  time  by  special  agents.  The  personnel  of  the  division 
consists  of  a  Chief  Claim  Examiner  and  seventeen  other 
employees. 

Medical  Division.  The  Medical  Division  is  in  the  charge 
of  the  Medical  Director,  who  is  aided  by  an  Assistant  Medical 
Director.  Both  of  these  officers  are  detailed  from  and  are  on 
the  pay  roll  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service.  The  other 
employees  of  the  division  are  paid  by  the  commission.  The 
division  orders  or  authorizes  medical  examinations  and  treat- 
ment; gives  advice  on  medical  matters;  conducts  the  commis- 


ORGANIZATION  33 

sion's  relations  with  physicians  and  hospitals;  and  designates 
physicians  and  hospitals  to  be  used  by  injured  employees. 

The  technical  work  of  the  division,  requiring  medical  or 
surgical  knowledge,  is  performed  by  the  Medical  Director  and 
his  assistant. 

This  division  carries  on  the  correspondence  of  the  com- 
mission which  relates  to  medical  matters.  It  advises  the  com- 
mission on  medical  questions  which  arise  in  a  large  proportion 
of  the  cases.  It  suggests  the  place  of  treatment  of  injured 
employees  and  determines  the  selection  of  physicians,  especially 
when  specialists'  services  are  needed.  Practically  all  per- 
manent total  and  partial  disabilities  and  disabilities  that  con- 
tinue for  more  than  about  sixty  days  are  referred  to  the  medi- 
cal division  for  opinion  concerning  questions  of  treatment  and 
of  continuance  of  disability. 

The  Medical  Director  examines  each  case  that  is 
brought  to  his  attention  to  see  whether  the  claimant  is  getting 
the  kind  of  treatment  that  his  case  requires,  and  that  he  is  in 
the  hands  of  a  surgeon  of  known  experience,  and  he  advises 
on  all  questions  of  degree  of  disability  of  beneficiaries. 

In  every  case  of  sprain  or  fracture  the  Medical  Director  ex- 
amines the  report  in  order  to  find  what  kind  of  treatment  the 
claimant  is  receiving  and  to  order  x-ray  photographs  and  op- 
erations where  necessary. 

Other  work  of  the  division  consists  of  examining  claims  of 
a  routine  character  requiring  no  technical  knowledge;  sum- 
marizing and  typewriting  the  medical  record  and  medical  facts 
in  compensation  cases ;  conducting  correspondence  not  requir- 
ing technical  medical  opinion  or  action ;  and  keeping  up-to-date 
information  concerning  the  location  of  surgeons  and  hospitals 
most  readily  available  to  injured  employees,  and  the  best  means 
of  transportation  to  them,  all  of  which  is  done  by  clerks  and 
stenographers  on  the  pay  roll  of  the  commission.  The  per- 
sonnel of  this  division  consists  of  the  Medical  Director  and 
his  assistant  and  fifteen  employees  of  the  commission. 


34     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Medical  Claims  Division.  This  division  handles  and  passes 
upon  all  the  medical  and  hospital  bills,  bills  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  injured  employees  and  for  medical  supplies,  and  bills 
for  special  treatment,  operations,  x-ray  work,  etc.,  and  con- 
ducts the  correspondence  relating  to  the  same.  To  do  this  it 
must  keep  in  constant  touch  with  sources  of  information  con- 
cerning the  customary  rates  of  compensation  for  service  and 
the  market  prices  of  medicines  and  medical  and  surgical  sup- 
plies. The  personnel  of  this  division  consists  of  a  chief  and 
seven  other  employees. 

Legal  Division.  The  Legal  Division  advises  the  members 
and  other  officers  of  the  commission  concerning  questions  of 
law  with  relation  to  the  Compensation  Act  and  its  adminis- 
tration, and  gives  assistance  and  advice  in  third-party  cases. 

The  third-party  cases  are  cases  involving  the  recovery  to  the 
commission  and  to  the  claimants  for  compensation  of  money 
from  parties  who  are  liable  for  damages  for  injuries  sustained 
by  government  employees  in  the  course  of  their  employment. 
Such  cases  are  usually  adjusted  by  the  parties  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Legal  Division,  but  when  court  proceedings 
are  necessary,  the  Legal  Division  assists  the  prosecutor  by  sup- 
plying information  in  the  case,  and  if  desired,  suggesting  an 
attorney  to  handle  the  case  for  the  prosecutor.  The  personnel 
of  this  division  consists  of  an  Attorney  and  three  other  em- 
ployees. 

Statistical  Division.  The  Statistical  Division  classifies  and 
tabulates  all  the  statistical  data  needed  by  the  commission  in 
its  current  administrative  and  publicity  work,  and  in  the 
preparation  of  the  annual  report;  makes  and  keeps  on  file  rec- 
ord cards  of  injuries  and  of  compensation  specially  prepared 
for  statistical  purposes ;  and  makes  special  studies  and  analyses 
of  medical,  compensation,  and  accident  statistics.  The  greater 
part  of  the  volume  of  the  annual  reports  of  the  commission  us- 
ually consists  of  tables  and  statistical  analyses  prepared  in 


ORGANIZATION  35 

this  division.  The  personnel  consists  of  a  Chief  Statistician 
and  five  other  employees. 

Disbursing  Office.  The  Disbursing  Office  makes  all  pay- 
ments of  compensation  awards  as  well  as  of  the  salaries  and 
other  expenses  of  the  commission,  keeps  a  record  of  such  pay- 
ments; handles  the  funds  of  the  commission;  and  assists  the 
Commissioners  in  making  the  estimates  of  appropriations  from 
year  to  year.  The  Chief  of  Accounts,  in  charge  of  this  office, 
is  personally  responsible  for  the  legality  of  all  payments  made 
by  the  commission  either  for  compensations  or  for  other  puf- 
poses,  and  he  therefore  scrutinizes  all  awards  of  compensation 
in  order  to  discover  any  violations  of  law  that  may  be  made 
by  the  Commissioners  or  their  assistants  in  making  the  awards. 
As  budget  officer,  the  Chief  of  Accounts  in  conference  with 
the  Commissioners  prepares  the  annual  financial  estimate  of 
the  commission.  The  personnel  of  the  division  consists  of 
a  Chief  of  Accounts  and  six  other  employees. 


APPENDIX  i 

OUTLINE  OF  ORGANIZATION 

Explanatory  Note 

The  Outlines  of  Organization  have  for  their  purpose  to 
make  known  in  detail  the  organization  and  personnel  possessed 
by  the  several  services  of  the  national  government  to  which 
they  relate.  They  have  been  prepared  in  accordance  with  the 
plan  followed  by  the  President's  Commission  on  Economy  and 
Efficiency  in  the  preparation  of  its  outlines  of  the  organization 
of  the  United  States  government.1  They  differ  from  those 
outlines,  however,  in  that  whereas  the  Commission's  report 
showed  only  organization  units,  the  presentation  herein  has 
been  carried  far  enough  to  show  the  personnel  embraced  in 
each  organization  unit. 

These  outlines  are  of  value  not  merely  as  an  effective  means 
of  making  known  the  organization  of  the  several  services. 
If  kept  revised  to  date  by  the  services,  they  constitute  exceed- 
ingly important  tools  of  administration.  They  permit  the 
directing  personnel  to  see  at  a  glance  the  organizations  and 
personnel  at  their  disposition.  They  establish  definitely  the 
line  of  administrative  authority  and  enable  each  employee  to 
know  his  place  in  the  system.  They  furnish  the  essential 
basis  for  making  plans  for  determining  costs  by  organization 
division  and  subdivision.  They  afford  the  data  for  a  con- 
sideration of  the  problems  of  classifying  and  standardizing 
personnel  and  compensation.  Collectively,  they  make  it  pos- 
sible to  determine  the  number  and  location  of  organization 
divisions  of  any  particular  kind,  as,  for  example,  laboratories, 

a62  Cong.,  2  sess.  H.  Doc.  458,  1912,  2  vols. 

36 


OUTLINE  OF  ORGANIZATION 


37 


libraries,  blue-print  rooms,  or  any  other  kind  of  plant  pos- 
sessed by  the  national  government,  to  what  services  they  are 
attached  and  where  they  are  located,  or  to  determine  what  serv- 
ices are  maintaining  stations  at  any  city  or  point  in  the  United 
States.  The  Institute  hopes  that  upon  the  completion  of  the 
present  series,  it  will  be  able  to  prepare  a  complete  classified 
statement  of  the  technical  and  other  facilities  at  the  disposal  of 
the  government.  The  present  monographs  will  then  furnish 
the  details  regarding  the  organization,  equipment,  and  work 
of  the  institutions  so  listed  and  classified. 


EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 


Unit  of  Organization; 
Class  of  Employees 


Number 


6. 


Offices  of  the  Commissioners 
i.    Office  of  the  Chairman 

Chairman I 

Stenographer  and  Office  As- 
sistant         i 

2.    Offices  of  other  Commissioners 

Commissioner 2 

Stenographer  and  Office  As- 
sistant       i 

Office  of  the  Secretary 

Secretary I 

Assistant    , I 

Stenographer  and  Office  Assistant   ....     i 

Messenger    I 

Assembly  Division 

Chief i 

Assistant    I 

Clerk    5 

6 

Stenographer 2 

Claims  Division 

Chief  Claim  Examiner  I 

Assistant    I 


Special  Agent   2 

2 

Clerk 2 

Clerk  and  Stenographer 5 

Medical  Division 

Medical  Director 

Assistant   Medical    Director    

Assistant    (non    technical)     

Clerk    

Clerk  and  Stenographer  i 

Stenographer   . . . ., 

Medical  Claims  Division 

Chief    i 


Annual  Salary 
Rate 


^4,000 
1,400 
4,000 

1,200 

3,000 
1,600 

1,000 

840 

1,600 
1,600 
1,400 
1,200 
1,000 

2,250 
2,000 
1,800 
1,600 
1,800 
1,600 
1,600 
1,200 


1 
1,600 
i,34o 
1,200 
1,000 

1,800 


1  On  the  pay  roll  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  Service. 

38 


OUTLINE  OF  ORGANIZATION  39 

Clerk    2  1,400 

1  i,340 

Clerk  and  Stenographer 4  1,200 

7.  Legal  Division 

Attorney    1  4>o°o 

Assistant    1  1,600 

Clerk  and  Stenographer  2  1,200 

8.  Statistical  Division 

Chief  Statistician  1  3>5°° 

Clerk    2  1,400 

Clerk  and  Stenographer  3  1,200 

9.  Disbursing  Office 

Chief  of  Accounts 1  2,500 

Assistant    1  1,660 

Accountant    1  2,250 

Clerk    2  1,400 

Clerk  and  Stenographer   2  1,200 


APPENDIX  2 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  ACTIVITIES 

Explanatory  Note 

The  Classifications  of  Activities  have  for  their  purpose  to 
list  and  classify  in  all  practicable  detail  the  specific  activities 
engaged  in  by  the  several  services  of  the  national  government. 
Such  statements  are  of  value  from  a  number  of  standpoints. 
They  furnish,  in  the  first  place,  the  most  effective  showing  that 
can  be  made  in  brief  compass  of  the  character  of  the  work  per- 
formed by  the  service  to  which  they  relate.  Secondly,  they 
lay  the  basis  for  a  system  of  accounting  and  reporting  that 
will  permit  the  showing  of  total  expenditures  classified  accord- 
ing to  activities.  Finally,  taken  collectively,  they  make  pos- 
sible the  preparation  of  a  general  or  consolidated  statement  of 
the  activities  of  the  government  as  a  whole.  Such  a  state- 
ment will  reveal  in  detail,  not  only  what  the  government  is 
doing,  but  the  services  in  which  the  work  is  being  performed. 
For  example,  one  class  of  activities  that  would  probably  ap- 
pear in  such  a  classification  is  that  of  "scientific  research.'' 
A  subhead  under  this  class  would  be  "chemical  research." 
Under  this  head  would  appear  the  specific  lines  of  investigation 
under  way  and  the  services  in  which  they  were  being  prose- 
cuted. It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  the  value  of  such 
information  in  planning  for  future  work  and  in  considering 
the  problem  of  the  better  distribution  and  coordination  of  the 
work  of  the  government.  The  Institute  contemplates  attempt- 
ing such  a  general  listing  and  classification  of  the  activities 
of  the  government  upon  the  completion  of  the  present  series. 

40 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  ACTIVITIES  41 

Classification   of  Activities 

1.  General  administration. 

2.  Prescribing  rules  and  regulations  for  reporting  injuries 
and  presenting  claims  and  for  obtaining  medical  treatment. 

3.  Administering  awards  for  compensation  and  making  com- 
pensation payments. 

4.  Administering  medical  relief  service. 

5.  Directing  damage  suits  against  third  parties. 

6.  Compiling  statistics  of  injuries  and  awards. 


APPENDIX  3 
PUBLICATIONS 

The  publications  of  the  United  States  Employees'  Com- 
pensation Commission  consist  of  the  annual  reports  required 
by  the  organic  act,  and  such  regulations,  instructions,  and  other 
information,  as  are  needed  for  the  enforcement  of  the  provi- 
sions of  the  act  and  for  the  extension  of  its  benefits  to  those 
entitled  to  receive  them. 

Annual  reports  have  been  published  for  the  fiscal  years  end- 
ing June  30,  191 7  to  1 92 1,  inclusive.  They  contain,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  usual  report  of  operations  and  recommendations, 
detailed  statistics  of  injuries  reported,  claims  received,  awards 
made,  and  medical  treatment  extended  under  the  act.  Some 
of  the  reports  contain  interpretations  of  the  Compensation 
Act  by  the  commission,  and  two  of  them  reproduce  decisions 
rendered  in  individual  cases. 

Regulations  concerning  the  duties  of  employees,  official  supe- 
riors, medical  officers,  and  others  under  the  Employees' 
Compensation  Act  were  published  in  19 18  and  distributed  to 
the  various  government  offices.  A  revised  edition  was  issued 
October  15,  1919. 

Travel  regulations  for  the  use  of  employees  of  the  commis- 
sion were  issued  in  19 17. 

Instructions  relative  to  medical  and  surgical  relief  for 
injured  civil  service  employees  were  issued  August  22, 
1917. 

Directories  of  medical  officers,  physicians,  and  hospitals 
available  to  employees  of  the  government  injured  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty  under  the  Employees'  Compensation  Act 
were  issued  in  19 18  and  1920. 

4* 


PUBLICATIONS  43 

A  four-page  folder,  for  distribution  among  government  em- 
ployees, and  a  poster  for  display  in  their  places  of  work,  call- 
ing attention  to  the  right  to  compensation  and  medical  treat- 
ment for  personal  injuries  of  civil  employees  under  the  Com- 
pensation Act  have  also  been  issued. 


APPENDIX  4 
LAWS 

Analysis  of  Employees'  Compensation  Act  of 
September  17,  1916 

(A)  Substantive  Law 

1.  General  Purpose  of  the  Law 

Compensation  of  civil  employees  of  the  United  States  govern- 
ment and  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  for  personal  injuries 
sustained  while  in  performance  of  their  duties  (Sees.  1  and  40). 

2.  Employees  Covered  by  the  Law 

All  civil  employees  of  the  United  States  government  and  of  the 
Panama  Railroad  (Sees.  1  and  40). 

3.  Injuries  for  which   Compensation  is   Granted 

Personal  injuries 

1.  Sustained  while  in  performance  of  duty. 

2.  Not  caused  by  willful  misconduct  of  injured  employee. 

3.  Not   caused  by  injured  employee's   intent  to  bring  about 

injury  or  death  of  himself  or  another. 

4.  Not  having  as  its  proximate  cause  intoxication  of  injured 

employee  (Sec.  1). 

4.  Classification  of  Injuries  for  Compensation  Purposes 

1.  Total  disability  (Sec.  3) 

1.  Temporary 

1.  Disability  three  days  or  less   (Sec.  2). 

2.  Disability  more  than  three  days   (Sec.  2). 

2.  Permanent  (Sec.  14). 

2.  Partial  disability   (Sec.  4) 

1.  Temporary 

1.  Disability  three  days  or  less   (Sec.  2). 

2.  Disability  more  than  three  days    (Sec.  2). 

2.  Permanent  (Sec.  14). 

3.  Death,  resulting  within  six  years  from  receipt  of  injury  unless 

1.  Death  takes  place  more  than  one  year  after  receipt  of  in- 

jury where  no  disability  preceded  death. 

2.  Death  takes  place  more  than  one  year  after  cessation   of 

disability  resulting  from  injury   (Sec.   10). 

5.  Character    of   Benefits.     Compensation   to   be   paid    in    following 

forms;  provided  that  employee  not  to  receive  from  the  United 
States  any  salary,  pay  or  remuneration  whatsoever  except  in 
return  for  services  actually  performed,  and  except  pensions  for 
service  in  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States  as  long  as 
he  is  in  receipt  of  compensation  under  this  act,  or,  if  he  has 
been  paid  a  lump  sum  in  commutation  of  installment  payments, 

44 


LAWS  45 

until  expiration  of  period  during  which  installment  payments 
would  have  continued  (Sec.  7). 

1.  Reasonable  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services  and  sup- 

plies, unless  refused,  and  transportation  to  place  of  securing 
them  if  necessary,  to  be  furnished  to  employees  immediately 
after  injury  is  sustained  in  performance  of  duty,  whether 
resulting  in  disability  or  not.  Services  and  supplies  to  be 
furnished  by  United  States  medical  officers  and  hospitals,  but 
if  not  practicable  then  by  private  physicians  and  hospitals 
designated  or  approved  by  commission  (Sec.  9). 

2.  Installment  compensation  payments  to  beneficiaries  based  upon 

monthly  pay  of  employee  at  time  of  injury.     (Sees.  3,  4,  10, 
and  40). 
1.    Monthly  pay  of  injured  employee  to  be  computed  accord- 
ing to  usual  practice  of  service  in  which  person  was  em- 
ployed (Sec.  12). 

2.  In  computing  compensation,  monthly  pay  to  be  considered 

not  more  than  $100  nor  less  than  $50,  except  that 
total  compensation  not  to  exceed  monthly  pay  (Sec. 
10-K). 

3.  Subsistence  and  value  of  quarters  furnished  employee  to  be 

included  as  part  of  pay  (Sec.  12). 

4.  Overtime  pay  not  to  be  taken  into  account.     (Sec.  12). 

5.  Annual   or   sick   leave   to  be   exhausted   before   compensa- 

tion period  begins,  at  discretion  of  employee,  subject  to 
approval   of  head   of  department    (Sec.   8). 

3.  Lump-sum  payments  to  beneficiaries  in  cases  of  death  or  per- 

manent disability  if  made  in  discharge  of  liability  of  the 
United  States,  payments  to  be  equal  to  present  value  of  all 
future  payments  of  compensation  computed  at  4  per  cent, 
true  discount  compounded  annually;  probability  of  bene- 
ficiary's death  before  expiration  of  period  during  which  he 
is  entitled  to  compensation  to  be  determined  according  to 
American  Experience  Table  of  Mortality,  but  in  case  of  com- 
pensation to  widow,  lump  sum  not  to  exceed  sixty  months' 
compensation : 

1.  If  monthly  payment  to  beneficiary  is  less  than  $5  a  month. 

2.  If   beneficiary   is   about   to  become   a    non-resident   of  the 

United  States. 

3.  If  commission   determines  that  it  is   for  best  interests  of 

beneficiary   (Sec.  14). 

4.  Burial    expenses   to   personal    representatives,   not    to    exceed 

$100,  at  discretion  of  commission. 

5.  Transportation    of   body.     Body   to   be   embalmed   and   trans- 

ported in  hermetically  sealed  casket  to  home  of  employee,  if 
employee's  home  is  within  the  United  States  and  his  death 
occurs  away  from  his  home  office  or  outside  the  United 
States,  and  if  desired  by  his  relatives,  and  at  discretion  of 
commission. 

6.  Traveling  and  other  expenses  and  compensation  for  loss   of 

wages  on  account  of  physical  examinations  required  by 
commission  after  the  first,  to  employees  (Sec.  21), 


46      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

6.    Rates  of  Compensation 

i.    Total  disability,  permanent  or  temporary 

i.     Reasonable  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services  and  sup- 
plies, and   transportation  to  place   of  securing  them,   if 
necessary,   from  time   of   injury    (Sec.  9). 
2.    Payments,  after  third  day  of  disability,  equal  to  66%  per 
cent  of  employee's  monthly  pay  (Sec.  3). 

1.  Payments  not  to  exceed  $66.67,  or  to  be  less  tnan  $33-33> 

unless  employee's  monthly  pay  is  less  than  $33.33,  in 
which  case  his  compensation  to  be  full  amount  of  his 
monthly  pay   (Sec.  6). 

2.  Payments  to  minors  and  learners  at  time  of  injury,  who 

were  not  physically^  or  mentally  defective,  to  be  in- 
creased at  any  time,  on  review,  and  to  old  persons, 
decreased,  at  discretion  of  commission,  according  to 
probable  wage-earning  capacity  if  injury  had  not  oc- 
curred (Sec.  6). 

2.  Partial  disability,  permanent  or  temporary 

1.  Reasonable  medical,  surgical  and  hospital  services  and  sup- 

plies, and  transportation  to  place  of  securing  them,  if 
necessary,  from  time  of  injury  (Sec.  9). 

2.  Payments,   after  third  day  of  disability  equal  to  66%  per 

cent  of  difference  between  employee's  monthly  pay  and 
his  wage-earnings  capacity  after  beginning  of  such  par- 
tial disability  (Sec.  4). 

1.  Monthly  compensation  not  to  exceed  %66.6y  (Sec.  6). 

2.  Value  of  housing,  board,  lodging,  and  other  advantages 

received  from  employer  as  part  of  his  remuneration 
and  which  can  be  estimated  in  money,  to  be  included 
as  wages   (Sees.  4  and  13). 

3.  Payments  to  minors  and  learners  at  time  of  injury,  who 

were  not  physically  or  mentally  defective,  to  be  in- 
creased at  any  time  on  review,  and  to  old  persons,  de- 
creased, at  discretion  of  commission,  according  to 
probable  wage-earning  capacity  if  injury  had  not  oc- 
curred (Sec.  6). 

3.  Death 

1.  To   employees,    reasonable   medical,    surgical    and   hospital 

services  and  supplies  and  transportation  to  place  of  secur- 
ing them,  if  necessary,  from  time  of  injury  (Sec.  9). 

2.  Payments  according  to   following  scale: 

1.    To  decedent's  widow  living  with  or  dependent  for  sup- 
port upon  decedent  at  time  of  his  death. 

1.  If    there    is  no    child,    35    per    cent   of    decedent's 

monthly  pay,  until  death  or  marriage. 

2.  If  there  is  a  child,   compensation  as  above  and  in 

addition,  10  per  cent  for  each  child,  total  for 
widow  and  children  not  to  exceed  66%  per  cent. 
Compensation  on  account  of  any  child  to  cease 
when  he  dies,  marries,  or  reaches  age  of  eighteen 
years,  or  if  over  eighteen  and  incapable  of  self- 
support,     when    he    becomes     capable     of    self- 


LAWS  47 

support;  if  a  child  has  a  guardian  other  than  sur- 
viving widow  or  widower,  compensation  payable 
on  account  of  such  child  to  be  paid  to  said  guard- 
ian (Sees,  io- A,  io-C,  and  io-H). 

2.  To  decedent's  widower   wholly  dependent   for  support 

upon  her  at  time  of  her  death. 

i.  If  there  is  no  child,  35  per  cent  of  decedent's 
monthly  pay  until  death  or  marriage  (Sec.  10-B). 

2.  If  there  is  a  child,  compensation  as  above,  and  in 
addition,  10  per  cent  for  each  child,  total  for 
widower  and  children  not  to  exceed  66%  per  cent; 
compensation  on  account  of  any  child  to  cease 
when  he  dies,  marries,  or  reaches  the  age  of  eight- 
een years,  or  if  over  eighteen  and  incapable  of 
self-support,  when  he  becomes  capable  of  self- 
support;  if  a  child  has  a  guardian  other  than  sur- 
viving widow  or  widower,  compensation  payable 
on  account  of  such  child  to  be  paid  to  said  guard- 
ian   (Sees.   10-A,   10-C,  and   10-H). 

3.  To  decedent's  unmarried  children,   step-children,  chil- 

dren legally  adopted  prior  to  time  of  injury  and  post- 
humous children,  if  there  is  no  widow  or  dependent 
widower,  until  death,  marriage  or  age  of  eighteen 
years,  or  if  over  eighteen  and  incapable  of  self-sup- 
port, until  capable  of  self-support;  compensation  of 
child  under  legal  age  to  be  paid  to  his  guardian. 

1.  Twenty-five  per  cent  for  one  child. 

2.  Ten  per  cent   for  each  additional   child  share  and 
share  alike,  total  not  to  exceed  66%  per  cent  (Sees. 

10-D  and  10-H). 

4.  To    decedent's    parents,    step-parents,    and    parents    by 

legal  adoption  prior  to  time  of  injury,  for  period  of 
eight  years  or  until  death,  marriage,  or  cessation  of 
dependence  (Sees.  10-E  and  10-H). 

1.  If  there  is  no  widow,  widower  or  child 

1.  If  one  is  wholly  dependent  for  support  upon  de- 

ceased employee  and  other  is  not  to  any  ex- 
tent, 25  per  cent. 

2.  If  both  are  wholly  dependent,  20  per  cent  each. 

3.  If  one  is  or  both  are  partly  dependent,  propor- 

tionate   amount    at    discretion    of    commission 
(Sees.  10-E,  10-G). 

2.  If  there  is  a  widow,  widower,  or  child,  so  much  of 

above  percentages,  as  when  added  to  total  percent- 
ages payable  to  widow,  widower  and  children  will 
not  exceed  a  total  of  662/^  per  cent  (Sec.  10-F). 

5.  To   decedent's  unmarried   brothers,   sisters   and   grand- 

children, step-brothers  and  step-sisters  and  brothers 
and  sisters  by  legal  adoption  prior  to  time  of  injury, 
under  age  of  eighteen  years,  or  if  over  that  age  and 
incapable  of  self-support,  until  capable  of  self-support, 


48      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

and  grandparents  until  death,  marriage,  or  cessation  of 
dependence,  but  in  no  case  for  more  than  eight  years ; 
compensation  of  brother,  sister,  or  grandchild  under 
legal  age  to  be  paid  to  his  or  her  guardian. 
i.    If  there  is  no  widow,  widower,  child,  or  dependent 
parent 
i.    If  one   is   wholly   dependent  upon  deceased  em- 
ployee for  support  at  time  of  death,  20  per  cent 

2.  If  more  than  one  are  wholly  dependent,  30  per 

cent,  divided  among  dependents,  share  and  share 
alike 

3.  If  no  one  is  wholly  dependent,  but  one  or  more 

partly  dependent,   10  per  cent,   divided  among 
dependents,   share  and   share  alike. 
2.    If  there  is   a  widow,  widower,  child,  or  dependent 
parent,   so  much   of   above  percentages   as,   when 
added    to    total    percentage    payable    to    widow, 
widower,  child,  or  dependent  parent,  will  not  ex- 
ceed 66%  per  cent  (Sees.  10-F,  10-G,  and  10-H). 
6.    To    decedent's    dependents,     reapportionment    of    pay- 
ments as  follows: 

1.  Upon   cessation   of  compensation   to  or   on   account 

of  any  person,  compensation  of  remaining  persons 
entitled  to  compensation  for  unexpired  period  to  be 
that  which  such  persons  would  have  received  if 
they  had  been  the  only  persons  entitled  to  com- 
pensation at  time  of  decedent's  death  (Sec.  10-I). 

2.  Commission,  in  its  discretion,  to  modify  apportion- 

ment where  there  are  two  or  more  classes  of  per- 
sons entitled  to  compensation  and  apportionment 
specified  above  would  result  in  injustice  (Sec. 
10-J). 

3.  To  decedent's  dependents,  burial  expenses  not  to  ex- 

ceed $100  and  embalming  and  transporting  of 
body  in  a  hermetically  sealed  casket  to  home  of 
employee  if  within  the  United  States,  at  discretion 
of   commission    (Sec.    11). 

(B)  Administrative  Law 

1.    Organs  of  Administration 

1.    United  States  Employees'  Compensation  Commission  (Sec.  28). 
1.    Organization 

1.  Three   Commissioners   appointed  by  the   President,   by 

and  with    advice   and  consent    of  the  Senate ;    Chair- 
man to  be  designated  by  the  President  (Sec.  28). 

2.  Term   of   Commissioners,    six   years,   original   appoint- 

ments to  be  for  two,  four,  and  six  years,  respectively 
(Sec.  28). 

3.  Qualifications  of  Commissioners 

I.     No  Commissioner  to  hold  any  other  office  or  position 
under  the  United  States  (Sec.  28), 


LAWS  49 

2.     No  more  than  two  Commissioners  to  be  members  of 
same  political  party  (Sec.  28). 

4.  Salary  of  each  Commissioner  $4000  per  annum  (Sec. 
28). 

5.  Provision   for  assistants:   Commission  to  have  such  as- 

sistants, clerks,  and  other  employees  as  may  be  pro- 
vided by  Congress,  to  be  appointed  from  civil  service 
eligible  lists,  and  to  include  all  clerks  and  employees 
exclusively  engaged  in  carrying  on  compensation  work 
in  executive  departments,  commissions,  and  independ- 
ent bureaus  (Sees.  28a  and  30)./ 

6.  Principal  office  of  commission,  Washington,  D.  C,  but 

commission  to  perform  its  work  at  any  place  deemed 
necessary  (Sec.  28). 
2.    Powers  and  Duties 

1.     General  powers  and  duties 

1.  To  decide  all  questions  arising  under  this  act  (Sec. 

32)- 

2.  To  make  rules  and  regulations  for  enforcement  of 

this  act   (Sec.  32). 

3.  To  require  submission  of  reports  and  information 

1.  To  obtain   from  immediate  superior,  report  con- 

taining such  information  as  commission  may 
require  immediately  after  injury  to  employee  re- 
sulting in  death  or  probable  disability  (Sec.  24). 

2.  To  obtain  from  immediate  superior,  such  supple- 

mentary reports  as  commission  may  require, 
after  injury  to  employee  resulting  in  death  or 
probable  disability  (Sec.  24). 

3.  To  require  from  employees  of  departments  such 

information  and  such  reports  as  may  be  agreed 
upon  by  commission  and  heads  of  respective  de- 
partments (Sec.  28a). 

4.  To  require   partially  disabled  employee  to  make 

affidavit  as  to  wages  he  is  then  receiving  (Sec. 

4)- 

5.  At  discretion,  to  waive  certain  requirements  rela- 

tive to  submission  of  notices  and  claims. 

1.  To  allow  compensation  if  notice  of  injury  is 

submitted  within  one  year  instead  of  forty- 
eight  hours  after  the  injury  (Sec.  17). 

2.  To  waive  requirements  that  every  claim  shall 

be  on  forms  to  be  furnished  by  commission, 
shall  contain  all  information  required  by 
commission,  shall  be  sworn  to  by  person  en- 
titled to  compensation  or  by  person  acting 
in  his  behalf,  and,  except  in  case  of  death, 
shall  be  accompanied  by  certificate  of  the 
employee's  physician  stating  nature  of  in- 
jury and  nature  and  probable  extent  of  dis- 
ability (Sec.  19). 


50      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

4.  To  issue  subpoenas  for  and  compel  attendance  of  wit- 

nesses within  radius  of  one  hundred  miles,  to  re- 
quire production  of  books,  papers,  documents,  and 
other  evidence,  to  administer  oaths,  and  to  examine 
witnesses,  upon  any  matter  within  jurisdiction  of 
commission ;  this  power  to  be  exercised  by  commis- 
sion, or  any  Commissioner  by  authority  of  com- 
mission (Sec.  29). 

5.  To  report  to  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  to  Con- 

gress 

1.  To    submit    annually    to    the    Secretary    of    the 

Treasury  estimates   of  appropriations 

1.  For  work  of  commission   (Sec.  31). 

2.  For  maintenance  of  employees'   compensation 

fund  (Sec.  35). 

2.  To  make  to  Congress  at  beginning  of  each  regu- 

lar session  a  report  of  its  work  for  preceding 
fiscal  year,  including 

1.  Detailed  statement  of  appropriations  and  ex- 

penditures. 

2.  Detailed  statement  showing  receipts  of  and  ex- 

expenditures  from  employees'  compensation 
fund. 
3.    Recommendations  for  legislation  (Sec.  33). 
2.     Specific  Powers  and  Duties 
1.    To  award  compensation 

1.  To  take  over  and  administer  all  pending  claims 

of  commissions  and  independent  bureaus  by  or 
in  which  payments  for  compensation  were  pro- 
vided at  the  time  of  approval  of  this  act  (Sec. 
28a). 

2.  To   determine   and   make   findings   of   facts   and 

make  awards  for  or  against  payment  of  com- 
pensation provided  for  in  this  act 

1.  Upon  consideration  of  claim  presented  by  bene- 

ficiary  and  report   furnished   by  immediate 
superior  of  injured  employee. 

2.  After   making   such    further   investigation    as 

commission  may  deem  necessary  (Sec.  36). 

3.  To  review  compensation  awards 

1.  To  review  awards  made,  at  any  time  on  its 

own  motion,  or  on  application,  and,  in  ac- 
cordance with  facts  found,  to 

1.  End   compensation  previously  awarded. 

2.  Diminish  compensation  previously  awarded. 

3.  Increase  compensation  previously  awarded. 

4.  Award  compensation,  if  previously  refused 

or  discontinued  (Sec.  37). 

2.  To  cancel  awards   and   recover   compensation 

paid    as    far   as    practicable,    if   paid   under 
mistake  of  law  or  fact  (Sec.  38). 


LAWS  51 

3.  To  decrease  compensation  of  old  persons,  ac- 

cording to  their  probable  wage-earning  ca- 
pacity if  injury  had  not  occurred  (Sec.  6). 

4.  To    increase    compensation    of    minors    and 

learners  at  time  of  injury,  who  are  not  phy- 
sically or  mentally  defective,  according  to 
their  probable  wage-earning  capacity  if  in- 
jury had  not  occurred  (Sec.  6). 

5.  To    modify    apportionment    of    compensation 

when  there  are  two  or  more  classes  of  per- 
sons entitled  to  compensation,  and  apportion- 
ment specified  would  result  in  injustice  (Sec. 
10-J). 
4.  To  grant  lump  sums  in  lieu  of  monthly  compen- 
sation payments  in  certain  cases  (Sec.  14). 

2.  To  direct  damage  suits  against  third  parties,  if  in- 

jury or  death  for  which  compensation  is  payable 
is  caused  under  circumstances  creating  legal  liabil- 
ity upon  some  person  other  than  the  United  States 
to  pay  damages  therefor 

1.  To  require  beneficiary 

1.  To  assign  to  the  United  States  any  right  of  ac- 

tion he  may  have  to  enforce  such  liability. 

2.  To  assign  to  the  United  States  any  right  he 

may  have  to  share  in  any  money  or  other 
property  received  in  satisfaction  of  such 
liability. 

3.  To  prosecute  such  action  in  his  own  name. 

2.  To  prosecute  or  compromise  cause  of  action,  if  it 

is  assigned  to  the  United  States  (Sec.  26). 

3.  To  organize  service  for  medical  treatment  of  injured 

employees  and  designate  private  physicians  at  hos- 
pitals in  certain  cases   (Sec.  9). 

4.  To  fix  fees  of  examining  physicians  not  in  service 

of  the  United  States   (Sec.  23). 

5.  To  appoint  referee  physician,  duly  qualified,  to  make 

examination  in  case  of  any  disagreement  between 
physician  making  an  examination  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  and  employee's  physician  (Sec. 
22). 
2.    Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal 

1.  The  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  transfer  from  time  to 

time  administration  of  this  act  so  far  as  employees  of 
the  Panama  Canal  and  of  the  Panama  Railroad  are  con- 
cerned to  the  Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal,  in  which 
case  words  "commission"  and  "its"  wherever  they  ap- 
pear in  this  act,  so  far  as  necessary  to  give  effect  to  such 
transfer,  to  be  read  "Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal"  and 
"his." 

2.  The  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  authorize  the  Governor 

of  the  Panama  Canal  to  waive  making  of  claim  required 


52      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

by  section  eighteen,  in  case  of  compensation  to  employees 
of  the  Panama  Canal  or  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Com- 
pany for  temporary  disability,  either  total  or  partial. 
3.  Expenses  of  medical  examinations  and  reasonable  travel- 
ing and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages  incurred  in 
submitting  to  all  medical  examinations  after  first  to  be 
paid  out  of  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal  or  out 
of  funds  of  the  Panama  Railroad,  as  the  case  may  be,  in- 
stead of  out  of  appropriations  for  work  of  commission; 
and  the  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  authorize  the 
Governor  of  the  Panama  Canal  to  pay  compensation  pro- 
vided for  by  this  act,  including  medical,  surgical,  and  hos- 
pital services  and  supplies,  and  transportation  and  burial 
expenses  otherwise  payable  out  of  employees'  compensa- 
tion fund,  out  of  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal, 
such  appropriations  to  be  reimbursed  for  such  payments 
by  transfer  of  funds  from  employees'  compensation  fund 
(Sec.  42). 
3.    Chairman   of  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission 

1.  The  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  transfer  from  time  to 

time  administration  of  this  act  so  far  as  employees  of 
Alaskan  Engineering  Commission  are  concerned  to  the 
Chairman  of  that  commission,  in  which  case  words  "com- 
mission" and  "its"  wherever  they  appear  in  this  act,  so 
far  as  necessary  to  give  effect  to  such  transfer,  to  be 
read  "Chairman  of  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission" 
and  "his." 

2.  Expenses  of  medical  examinations  and  reasonable  travel- 

ing and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages  incurred  in  sub- 
mitting to  all  medical  examinations  after  the  first  to  be 
paid  out  of  appropriations  for  the  Alaskan  Engineering 
Commission  instead  of  out  of  appropriations  for  work  of 
commission;  and  the  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  au- 
thorize the  Chairman  of  the  Alaskan  Engineering 
Commission  to  pay  compensation  provided  for  by  this  act, 
including  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services  and  sup- 
plies, and  transportation  and  burial  expenses  otherwise 
payable  out  of  employees'  compensation  fund,  out  of  ap- 
propriations for  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission, 
such  appropriations  to  be  reimbursed  for  such  payments 
by  the  transfer  of  funds  from  the  employees'  compensa- 
tion fund  (Sec.  42). 
2.    Duties  of  Injured  Civil  Employees  and  their  Dependents 

1.    Notice  of  injury.     Employee,  or  some  one  in  his  behalf,  to  give 

notice  of  injury  to  the  immediate  superior,  within  forty-eight 

hours  (Sec.  15). 

1.  This  notice  to  be  given  by  delivering  it  personally  or  by  de- 

positing it  properly  stamped  and  addressed  in  mail  (Sec. 

15). 

2.  This  notice  to  contain 

1.    Name  and  address  of  employee. 


LAWS  S3 

2.  Year,  month,  day,  and  hour  when  injury  occurred. 

3.  Particular  locality  where  injury  occurred. 

4.  Cause  and  nature  of  injury. 

5.  Signature  and  address  of  person  giving  notice  (Sec.  16). 
3.    No  compensation  to  be  allowed,  unless  notice  is  given  within 

time   specified   or  unless   immediate   superior  has  actual 
knowledge  of  injury;  but  commission,  in   its  discretion, 
to  allow  compensation  if  notice  is  filed  within  one  year 
after  injury  (Sec.  17). 
Physical  examinations.     Employee   to  submit  himself   to  ex- 
amination by  a  medical  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  by 
duly  qualified  physician  designated  or  approved  by  the  com- 
mission, as  frequently  and  at  such  times  and  places  as  may 
reasonably  be  required  (Sec.  21). 

1.  Employee,  in  his  discretion,  to  have  a  duly  qualified  phy- 

sician designated  and  paid  by  him  present  to  participate 
in   such  examinations    (Sec.   21). 

2.  Employee  to  be  examined  by  third  physician,  appointed  by 

commission,  in  case  of  disagreement  between  physician 
making  examination  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and 
employee's  physician  (Sec.  22). 

3.  Employee's  right  to  claim  compensation  under  act  to  be 

suspended  if  he  refuses  to  submit  himself  for,  or  in  any 
way  obstructs  examination;   suspension  to  continue  un- 
til such  refusal  or  obstruction  ceases,  no  compensation 
to  be  payable  while  such  refusal  or  obstruction  continues, 
and  period  of  such  refusal  or  obstruction  to  be  deducted 
from  period  for  which  compensation  is  payable  to  him 
(Sec.  21). 
Claim  for  compensation.     Claim  for  compensation  to  be  made 
by  person  entitled  to  compensation,  or  some  one  in  his  behalf, 
within  sixty  days  after  injury  in  case  of  disability,  or  one 
year  if  delayed  for  reasonable  cause;  and  within  one  year 
after  death,  in  case  of  death  (Sec.  18). 

1.  Claim  to  be  made  in  writing  by  person  entitled  to  compensa- 

tion, or  some  one  in  his  behalf,  on  forms  furnished  by 
commission,  and  to  contain  all  information  required  by 
commission  (Sees.  18  and  19). 

2.  Claim  to  be  delivered  at  office  of  commission,  to  any  Com- 

missioner, or  to  any  person  whom  commission  may  by 
regulation  designate;  or  shall  be  deposited  in  the  mail, 
properly  stamped  and  addressed  to  commission,  or  to  any 
person  whom  commission  may  designate  by  regulation 
(Sec.  18). 

3.  Claim  to  be  sworn  to  by  person  entitled  to  compensation  or 

by  person  acting  in  his  behalf ;  and  person  making  in  any 
claim  for  compensation  any  statement  knowing  it  to  be 
false,  to  be  guilty  of  perjury  and  to  be  punished  by  fine 
of  not  more  than  $2,000  or  by  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprison- 
ment  (Sees.  19  and  39). 


54      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

4.  Claim  to  be  accompanied,  except  in  case  of  death,  by  cer- 
tificate of  employee's  physician  stating  nature  of  injury 
and  probable  extent  of  disability  (Sec.  19). 

4.  Other  income  from  the  United  States.     Disabled  employee  shall 

not  receive  from  the  United  States  any  salary,  pay,  or  re- 
muneration whatsoever  except  in  return  for  services  actu- 
ally performed,  and  except  pensions  for  services  in  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  as  long  as  employee 
is  in  receipt  of  compensation  under  this  act,  or,  if  he  has 
been  paid  a  lump  sum  in  commutation  of  installment  pay- 
ments, until  expiration  of  period  during  which  such  install- 
ment payments,  would  have  continued  (Sec.  7). 

5.  Partially  disabled  employee 

1.  To  seek  suitable  work,  and  if  he  refuses  to  seek  suitable 

work  or  refuses  or  neglects  to  work  after  suitable  work 
is  offered  to,  procured  by,  or  secured  for  him,  to  forfeit 
title  to  compensation   (Sec.  5). 

2.  To  make  affidavit  as  to  wages  he  is  then  receiving,  when 

required  by  commission   (Sec.  4). 

1.  Affidavit  to  include  statement  of  the  value  of  housing, 

board,  lodging,  and  other  advantages  which  are  re- 
ceived from  employer  as  part  of  his  remuneration  and 
which  can  be  estimated  in  money   (Sec.  4). 

2.  Failure  of  employee  to  make  affidavit  when  required,  to 

result  in  forfeiture  of  compensation  during  continu- 
ance of  such  failure,  the  period  of  such  failure  to  be 
deducted  from  period  during  which  compensation  is 
payable  to  him  (Sec.  4). 

3.  Person  making  in  affidavit  any  statement  knowing  it  to 

be  false,  to  be  guilty  of  perjury  and  to  be  punished  by 
fine  of  not  more  than  $2,000,  or  by  imprisonment  for 
not  more  than  one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  im- 
prisonment  (Sec.  39). 

6.  Remarriage.     Persons  entitled  to  death   benefits,  whose  com- 

pensation should  cease  upon  marriage,  and  who  accept  pay- 
ment of  compensation  after  marriage,  to  be  punished  by 
fine  of  not  more  than  $2,000  or  by  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprison- 
ment (Sec.  10-L). 

7.  Assignment  of  Claims.     Assignments  of  claims  for  compensa- 

tion under  this  act  to  be  void,  and  all  compensation  and 
claims  therefor  to  be  exempt  from  all  claims  of  creditors 
(Sec.  25). 

8.  Actions  against   third  parties.     Beneficiary  to  make  such  as- 

signment of  action  against  third  parties  as  is  required  by 
commission,  and  to  prosecute  such  action  when  required  by 
commission ;  refusal  to  do  this  to  result  in  forfeiture  of  right 
to  compensation  (Sec.  26). 

9.  Actions  against  the  Panama  Railroad  Company.     No  compensa- 

tion payable  to  any  person  unless  he  releases  to  the  Panama 
Railroad  Company  any  right  of  action  he  may  have  to  en- 


LAWS 


55 


force  liability  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  or  assigns 
to  the  United  States  any  right  which  he  may  have  to  share 
in  any  money  or  property  received  in  satisfaction  of  lia- 
bility of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  (Sec.  41). 
Duties  of  Immediate  Superiors.  Immediate  superiors  to  report 
to  commission 

1.  Immediately  after  injury  to  employee  resulting  in  his  death 

or  his  probable  disability,  immediate  superior  to  make  report 
to  commission  containing  such  information  as  commission 
may  require. 

2.  Subsequent  to  injury  to  employee  resulting  in  his  death  or 

his    probable  disability,    immediate    superior  to  make    such 
supplementary   reports    as   commission    may    require    (Sec. 
24). 
Financial  Provisions 

1.  Appropriations  for   work    of    commission.     Expenditures    for 

following  purposes  to  be  chargeable  to  appropriations  for 
work  of  commission 

1.  Salaries  of  commissioners,  assistants,  clerks,  etc.  (Sec.  34). 

2.  Traveling   expenses    (Sec.  34). 

3.  Expenses  of  medical  examinations  (Sees.  21,  22,  and  23). 

4.  Reasonable  traveling  and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages 

to  employees  incurred  in  order  to  submit  to  all  examina- 
tions after  first  (Sec.  21). 

5.  Rent  and  equipment  of  offices   (Sec.  34). 

6.  Purchase  of  books,  stationery,  and  other  supplies  (Sec.  34). 

7.  Printing  and  binding  to  be  done  at  Government  Printing 

Office   (Sec.  34). 

8.  Other  necessary  expenses  (Sec.  34). 

2.  Appropriations  for  compensation.     Expenditures  for  following 

purposes  to  be  chargeable  to  the  employees'  compensation 
fund 

1.  Compensation  provided  by  this  act. 

2.  Medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services. 

3.  Medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  supplies. 

4.  Expenses  for  transportation  to  places  of  medical  examina- 

tion or  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  treatment. 

5.  Transportation  and  burial  expenses  provided  in  case  of  death 

(Sec.  35). 

3.  Appropriations  for  fiscal  year  ending  June  50,  1017 

1.  For  work  of  commission:  $50,000. 

2.  For  employees'  compensation  fund:  $500,000  (Sees.  34  and 

35)- 

4.  Money  or  property  realized  from  actions  at  law 

1.    Money   or   other  property  realized   upon   cause   of  action 
against  third  parties  to  be  applied  as  follows: 
1.    If  realized  by  commission,  to  be  applied  to 

1.  Liquidation  of  amount  of  compensation  already  paid 

to  beneficiary. 

2.  Payment  of  expenses  of  such  realization  or  collection. 

3.  Payment  of  balance  to  beneficiary,  credited  upon  any 


56      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

future  payment  of  compensation  payable  to  him  on 
account  of  such  injury  (Sec.  26). 
2.  Beneficiary,  if  entitled  to  compensation  from  the  United 
States  for  injury  or  death,  and  if  in  receipt  as  result 
of  suit  brought  by  him  on  his  behalf,  or  as  result  of 
settlement  made  by  him  or  on  his  behalf,  of  any  money 
or  other  property  in  satisfaction  of  liability  of  such 
other  person 

1.  To  deduct,  first,  costs  of  suit  and  reasonable  attor- 

ney's fee. 

2.  To  refund  to  the  United  States  amount  of  compensa- 

tion which  has  been  paid  for  same  injury,  and 
credit  any  surplus  upon  future  payments  of  com- 
pensation payable  to  him  on  account  of  same  in- 
jury. 

3.  If  no  compensation  has  been  paid  him  by  the  United 

States,  to  credit  money  or  other  property  so  re- 
ceived upon  compensation  payable  to  him  by  the 
United    States  on  account    of  same    injury    (Sec. 

2.   Money  recovered  when  compensation  has  been  paid  under 
mistake  of  law  or  of  fact  to  be  placed  to  credit  of  em- 
ployees' compensation  fund   (Sec.  38). 
5.    Alaska  and  Panama.    Expenditures  in  furtherance  of  act  in 
Panama  and  Alaska  to  be  charged  as  follows: 

1.  Expenses  of  medical  examinations  and  reasonable  travel- 

ing and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages  incurred  in  sub- 
mitting to  all  medical  examinations  after  first  to  be  paid 
out  of  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal  or  for  the 
Alaskan  Engineering  Commission,  or  out  of  funds  of 
the  Panama  Railroad,  as  the  case  may  be,  instead  of  out 
of  appropriations  for  work  of  commission. 

2.  The  President,  in  his  discretion,  to  authorize  the  Governor 

of  the  Panama  Canal  and  the  Chairman  of  the  Alaskan 
Engineering  Commission  to  pay  compensation  provided 
for  by  this  act,  including  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital 
services  and  supplies,  and  transportation  and  burial  ex- 
penses otherwise  payable  out  of  compensation  fund,  out 
of  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal  and  for  the  Alas- 
kan Engineering  Commission,  such  appropriations  to  be 
reimbursed  for  such  payments  by  transfer  of  funds  from 
employees'  compensation  fund  (Sec.  42). 
6.     Construction  of  the  Act 

1.  Singular  to  include  plural  and  masculine  to  include  feminine 

(Sec.  40). 

2.  Term  "Commission"  to  be  taken  to  refer  to  United  States 

Employees'  Compensation  Commission  provided  for  in 
section  twenty-eight  (Sec.  40). 

3.  Term  "physician"  to  include  surgeons   (Sec.  40). 

4.  Term  "employee"  to  include  all  civil  employees  of  the  United 

States  and  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  (Sec.  40). 


LAWS  57 

5.  Term  "widow"  to  include  only  decedent's  wife  living  with 

or  dependent  for  support  upon  him  at  time  of  his  death 
(Sec.  10-R). 

6.  Term   "widower"  to  include  only  decedent's  husband  de- 

pendent for  support  upon  her  at  time  of  her  death  (Sec. 
10-H). 

7.  Term  "child"  to  include  step-children,  adopted  children,  and 

posthumous  children,  but  not  to  include  married  children 
(Sec.  10-H). 

8.  Term  "parent"  to  include  step-parents  and  parents  by  adop- 

tion  (Sec.   10-H). 

9.  Terms  "brother"  and  "sister"  to  include  step-brothers  and 

step-sisters,  half  brothers  and  half  sisters,  and  brothers 
and  sisters  by  adoption,  but  not  to  include  married  broth- 
ers or  married  sisters  (Sec.  10-H). 
10.    Terms    "adopted"    and    "adoption"    to    include    only    legal 
adoption  prior  to  time  of  injury  (Sec.  10-H). 

(C)  Compilation  of  Laws 

1916. — Act  of  September  7,  1916  (39  Stat.  L.,  742) — An  Act  To 
provide  compensation  for  employees  of  the  United  States  suffering 
injuries  while  in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  and  for  other 
purposes. 

[Sec.i].  That  the  United  States  shall  pay  compensation  as  herein- 
after specified  for  the  disability  or  death  of  an  employee  resulting 
from  a  personal  injury  sustained  while  in  the  performance  of  his 
duty,  but  no  compensation  shall  be  paid  if  the  injury  or  death  is 
caused  by  the  willful  misconduct  of  the  employee  or  by  the  em- 
ployee's intention  to  bring  about  the  injury  or  death  of  himself  or 
of  another,  or  if  intoxication  of  the  injured  employee  is  the  proxi- 
mate cause  of  the  injury  or  death. 

Sec.  2.  That  during  the  first  three  days  of  disability  the  employee 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  compensation  except  as  provided  in  section 
nine.     No  compensation  shall  at  any  time  be  paid  for  such  period. 

Sec.  3.  That  if  the  disability  is  total  the  United  States  shall  pay 
to  the  disabled  employee  during  such  disability  a  monthly  compensa- 
tion equal  to  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per  centum  of  his  monthly  pay, 
except  as  hereinafter  provided. 

Sec.  4.  That  if  the  disability  is  partial  the  United  States  shall 
pay  to  the  disabled  employee  during  such  disability  a  monthly  com- 
pensation equal  to  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per  centum  of  the  differ- 
ence between  his  monthly  pay  and  his  monthly  wage-earning  capac- 
ity after  the  beginning  of  such  partial  disability.  The  commission 
may,  from  time  to  time,  require  a  partially  disabled  employee  to  make 
an  affidavit  as  to  the  wages  which  he  is  then  receiving.  In  such 
affidavit  the  employee  shall  include  a  statement  of  the  value  of 
housing,  board,  lodging,  and  other  advantages  which  are  received 
from  the  employer  as  a  part  of  his  remuneration  and  which  can  be 
estimated  in  money.  If  the  employee,  when  required,  fails  to  make 
such  affidavit,  he  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  compensation  while  such 
failure  continues,  and  the  period  of  such  failure  shall  be  deducted 
from  the  period  during  which  compensation  is  payable  to  him. 


58      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Sec.  5.  That  if  a  partially  disabled  employee  refuses  to  seek  suit- 
able work  or  refuses  or  neglects  to  work  after  suitable  work  is  of- 
fered to,  procured  by,  or  secured  for  him,  he  shall  not  be  entitled 
to  any  compensation. 

Sec.  6.  That  the  monthly  compensation  for  total  disability  shall 
not  be  more  than  §66.6j  nor  less  than  $33.33,  unless  the  employee's 
monthly  pay  is  less  than  $33.33,  in  which  case  his  monthly  compen- 
sation shall  be  the  full  amount  of  his  monthly  pay.  The  monthly 
compensation  for  partial  disability  shall  not  be  more  than  $66.67. 
In  the  case  of  persons  who  at  the  time  of  the  injury  were  minors  or 
employed  in  a  learner's  capacity  and  who  were  not  physically  or 
mentally  defective,  the  commission  shall,  on  any  review  after  the 
time  when  the  monthly  wage-earning  capacity  of  such  persons  would 
probably,  but  for  the  injury,  have  increased,  award  compensation 
based  on  such  probable  monthly  wage-earning  capacity.  The  com- 
mission may,  on  any  review  after  the  time  when  the  monthly  wage- 
earning  capacity  of  the  disabled  employee  would  probably,  irre- 
spective of  the  injury,  have  decreased  on  account  of  old  age,  award 
compensation  based    on  such  probable  monthly  wage-earning  capacity. 

Sec.  7.  That  as  long  as  the  employee  is  in  receipt  of  compensation 
under  this  Act,  or,  if  he  has  been  paid  a  lump  sum  in  commutation  of 
installment  payments,  until  the  expiration  of  the  period  during  which 
such  installment  payments  would  have  continued,  he  shall  not  receive 
from  the  United  States  any  salary,  pay,  or  remuneration  whatsoever 
except  in  return  for  services  actually  performed,  and  except  pensions 
for  service  in  the  Army  or  Navy  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  8.  That  if  at  the  time  the  disability  begins  the  employee  has 
annual  or  sick  leave  to  his  credit  he  may,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  head  of  the  department,  use  such  leave  until  it  is  exhausted, 
in  which  case  his  compensation  shall  begin  on  the  fourth  day  of 
disability  after  the  annual  or  sick  leave  has  ceased. 

Sec.  9.  That  immediately  after  an  injury  sustained  by  an  em- 
ployee while  in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  whether  or  not  dis- 
ability has  arisen,  and  for  a  reasonable  time  thereafter,  the  United 
States  shall  furnish  to  such  employee  reasonable  medical,  surgical, 
and  hospital  services  and  supplies  unless  he  refuses  to  accept  them. 
Such  services  and  supplies  shall  be  furnished  by  United  States 
medical  officers  and  hospitals,  but  where  this  is  not  practicable 
shall  be  furnished  by  private  physicians  and  hospitals  designated 
or  approved  by  the  commission  and  paid  for  from  the  employees' 
compensation  fund.  If  necessary  for  the  securing  of  proper  medical, 
surgical,  and  hospital  treatment,  the  employee,  in  the  discretion  of 
the  commission,  may  be  furnished  transportation  at  the  expense  of 
the  employees'  compensation   fund. 

Sec.  10.  That  if  death  results  from  the  injury  within  six  years  the 
United  States  shall  pay  to  the  following  persons  for  the  following 
periods  a  monthly  compensation  equal  to  the  following  percentages 
of  the  deceased  employee's  monthly  pay,  subject  to  the  modification 
that  no  compensation  shall  be  paid  where  the  death  takes  place 
more  than  one  year  after  the  cessation  of  disability  resulting  from 
such  injury,  or,  if  there  has  been  no  disability  preceding  death, 
more  than  one  year  after  injury. 


LAWS  59 

(A)  To  the  widow,  if  there  is  no  child,  thirty-five  per  centum. 
This  compensation  shall  be  paid  until  her  death  or  marriage. 

(B)  To  the  widower,  if  there  is  no  child,  thirty-five  per  centum  if 
wholly  dependent  for  support  upon  the  deceased  employee  at  the 
time  of  her  death.  This  compensation  shall  be  paid  until  his  death 
or  marriage. 

(C)  To  the  widow  or  widower,  if  there  is  a  child,  the  compensation 
payable  under  clause  (A)  or  clause  (B)  and  in  addition  thereto  ten 
per  centum  for  each  child,  not  to  exceed  a  total  of  sixty-six  and  two- 
thirds  percentum  for  such  widow  or  widower  and  children.  If  a 
child  has  a  guardian  other  than  the  surviving  widow  or  widower,  the 
compensation  payable  on  account  of  such  child  shall  be  paid  to  such 
guardian.  The  compensation  payable  on  account  of  any  child  shall 
cease  when  he  dies,  marries,  or  reaches  the  age  of  eighteen,  or,  if 
over  eighteen,  and  incapable  of  self-support,  becomes  capable  of  self- 
support. 

(D)  To  the  children,  if  there  is  no  widow  or  widower,  twenty-five 
per  centum  for  one  child  and  ten  per  centum  additional  for  each  ad- 
ditional child,  not  to  exceed  a  total  of  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per 
centum,  divided  among  such  children  share  and  share  alike.  The 
compensation  of  each  child  shall  be  paid  until  he  dies,  marries,  or 
reaches  the  age  of  eighteen,  or,  if  over  eighteen  and  incapable  of 
self-support,  becomes  capable  of  self-support.  The  compensation  of 
a  child  under  legal  age  shall  be  paid  to  its  guardian. 

(E)  To  the  parents,  if  one  is  wholly  dependent  for  support  upon 
the  deceased  employee  at  the  time  of  his  death  and  the  other  is  not 
dependent  to  any  extent,  twenty-five  per  centum;  if  both  are  wholly 
dependent,  twenty  per  centum  to  each;  if  one  is  or  both  are  partly 
dependent,  a  proportionate  amount  in  the  discretion  of  the  com- 
mission. 

The  above  percentages  shall  be  paid  if  there  is  no  widow,  widower, 
or  child.  If  there  is  a  widow,  widower,  or  child,  there  shall  be  paid 
so  much  of  the  above  percentages  as,  when  added  to  the  total  per- 
centages payable  to  the  widow,  widower,  and  children,  will  not  ex- 
ceed a  total  of  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per  centum. 

(F)  To  the  brothers,  sisters,  grandparents,  and  grandchildren,  if 
one  is  wholly  dependent  upon  the  deceased  employee  for  support  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  twenty  per  centum  to  such  dependent;  if  more 
than  one  are  wholly  dependent,  thirty  per  centum,  divided  among 
such  dependent  share  and  share  alike;  if  there  is  no  one  of  them 
wholly  dependent,  but  one  or  more  partly  dependent,  ten  per  centum 
divided  among  such  dependents  share  and  share  alike. 

The  above  percentages  shall  be  paid  if  there  is  no  widow,  widower, 
child,  or  dependent  parent.  If  there  is  a  widow,  widower,  child,  or 
dependent  parent,  there  shall  be  paid  so  much  of  the  above  per- 
centages as,  when  added  to  the  total  percentage  payable  to  the 
widow,  widower,  children,  and  dependent  parents,  will  not  exceed 
a  total  of  sixty-six  and  two-thirds  per  centum. 

(G)  The  compensation  of  each  beneficiary  under  clauses  (E)  and 
(F)  shall  be  paid  for  a  period  of  eight  years  from  the  time  of  the 
death,  unless  before  that  time  he,  if  a  parent  or  grandparent,  dies, 


60      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

marries,  or  ceases  to  be  dependent,  or,  if  a  brother,  sister,  or  grand- 
child, dies,  marries,  or  reaches  the  age  of  eighteen,  or,  if  over  eighteen 
and  incapable  of  self-support,  becomes  capable  of  self-support.  The 
compensation  of  a  brother,  sister,  or  grandchild  under  legal  age  shall 
be  paid  to  his  or  her  guardian. 

(H)  As  used  in  this  section,  the  term  "child"  includes  step- 
children, adopted  children,  and  posthumous  children,  but  does  not 
include  married  children.  The  terms  "brother"  and  "sister"  include 
step-brothers  and  step-sisters,  half  brothers  and  half  sisters,  and 
brothers  and  sisters  by  adoption,  but  do  not  include  married  brothers 
or  married  sisters.  All  of  the  above  terms  and  the  term  "grand- 
child" include  only  persons  who  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  the 
deceased  employee  are  under  eighteen  years  of  age  or  over  that  age 
and  incapable  of  self-support.  The  term  "parent"  includes  step- 
parents and  parents  by  adoption.  The  term  "widow"  includes  only 
the  decedent's  wife  living  with  or  dependent  for  support  upon  him 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  term  "widower"  includes  only  the 
decedent's  husband  dependent  for  support  upon  her  at  the  time 
of  her  death.  The  terms  "adopted"  and  "adoption"  as  used  in 
this  clause  include  only  legal  adoption  prior  to  the  time  of  the  in- 
jury. 

(I)  Upon  the  cessation  of  compensation  under  this  section  to  or 
on  account  of  any  person,  the  compensation  of  the  remaining  persons 
entitled  to  compensation  for  the  unexpired  part  of  the  period  during 
which  their  compensation  is  payable  shall  be  that  which  such  persons 
would  have  received  if  they  had  been  the  only  persons  entitled  to 
compensation  at  the  time  of  the  decedent's  death. 

(J)  In  case  there  are  two  or  more  classes  of  persons  entitled  to 
compensation  under  this  section  and  the  apportionment  of  such 
compensation,  above  provided,  would  result  in  injustice,  the  com- 
mission may,  in  its  discretion,  modify  the  apportionment  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  case. 

(K)  In  computing  compensation  under  this  section,  the  monthly 
pay  shall  be  considered  not  to  be  more  than  $100  nor  less  than  $50, 
but  the  total  monthly  compensation  shall  not  exceed  the  monthly 
pay  computed  as  provided  in  section  twelve. 

(L)  If  any  person  entitled  to  compensation  under  this  section, 
whose  compensation  by  the  terms  of  this  section  ceases  upon  his 
marriage,  accepts  any  payments  of  compensation  after  his  marriage 
he  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  $2,000  or  by  impris- 
onment for  not  more  than  one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  im- 
prisonment. 

Sec.  11.  That  if  death  results  from  the  injury  within  six  years 
the  United  States  shall  pay  to  the  personal  representative  of  the 
deceased  employee  burial  expenses  not  to  exceed  $100,  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  commission.  In  the  case  of  an  employee  whose  home 
is  within  the  United  States,  if  his  death  occurs  away  from  his  home 
office  or  outside  of  the  United  States,  and  if  so  desired  by  his  rela- 
tives, the  body  shall,  in  the  discretion  of  the  commission,  be  em- 
balmed and  transported  in  a  hermetically  sealed  casket  to  the  home 
of  the  employee.  Such  burial  expenses  shall  not  be  paid  and  such 
transportation  shall  not   be   furnished  where  the  death  takes  place 


LAWS  61 

more  than  one  year  after  the  cessation  of  disability  resulting  from 
such  injury,  or,  if  there  has  been  no  disability  preceding  death,  more 
than  one  year  after  the  injury. 

Sec.  12.  That  in  computing  the  monthly  pay  the  usual  practice  of 
the  service  in  which  the  employee  was  employed  shall  be  followed. 
Subsistence  and  the  value  of  quarters  furnished  an  employee  shall 
be  included  as  part  of  the  pay,  but  overtime  pay  shall  not  be  taken 
into  account. 

Sec.  13.  That  in  the  determination  of  the  employee's  monthly 
wage-earning  capacity  after  the  beginning  of  partial  disability,  the 
value  of  housing,  board,  lodging,  and  other  advantages  which  are 
received  from  his  employer  as  a  part  of  his  remuneration  and  which 
can  be  estimated  in  money  shall  be  taken  into  account. 

Sec.  14.  That  in  cases  of  death  or  of  permanent  total  or  permanent 
partial  disability,  if  the  monthly  payment  to  the  beneficiary  is  less 
than  $5  a  month,  or  if  the  beneficiary  is  or  is  about  to  become  a  non- 
resident of  the  United  States,  or  if  the  commission  determines  that 
it  is  for  the  best  interests  of  the  beneficiary,  the  liability  of  the  United 
States  for  compensation  to  such  beneficiary  may  be  discharged  by 
the  payment  of  a  lump  sum  equal  to  the  present  value  of  all  future 
payments  of  compensation  computed  at  four  per  centum  true  dis- 
count compounded  annually.  The  probability  of  the  beneficiary's 
death  before  the  expiration  of  the  period  during  which  he  is  entitled 
to  compensation  shall  be  determined  according  to  the  American  Ex- 
perience Table  of  Mortality;  but  in  case  of  compensation  to  the 
widow  or  widower  of  the  deceased  employee,  such  lump  sum  shall 
not  exceed  sixty  months'  compensation.  The  probability  of  the 
happening  of  any  other  contingency  affecting  the  amount  or  dura- 
tion of  the  compensation  shall  be  disregarded. 

Sec.  15.  That  every  employee  injured  in  the  performance  of  his 
duty,  or  some  one  on  his  behalf,  shall,  within  forty-eight  hours  after 
the  injury,  give  written  notice  thereof  to  the  immediate  superior  of 
the  employee.  Such  notice  shall  be  given  by  delivering  it  personally 
or  by  depositing  it  properly  stamped  and  addressed  in  the  mail. 

Sec  16.  That  the  notice  shall  state  the  name  and  address  of  the 
employee,  the  year,  month,  day,  and  hour  when  and  the  particular 
locality  where  the  injury  occurred,  and  the  cause  and  nature  of  the 
injury,  and  shall  be  signed  by  and  contain  the  address  of  the  person 
giving  the  notice. 

Sec  17.  That  unless  notice  is  given  within  the  time  specified  or 
unless  the  immediate  superior  has  actual  knowledge  of  the  injury,  no 
compensation  shall  be  allowed,  but  for  any  reasonable  cause  shown, 
the  commission  may  allow  compensation  if  the  notice  is  filed  within 
one  year  after  the  injury. 

Sec  18.  That  no  compensation  under  this  Act  shall  be  allowed  to 
any  person,  except  as  provided  in  section  thirty-eight,  unless  he  or 
some  one  on  his  behalf  shall,  within  the  time  specified  in  section 
twenty,  make  a  written  claim  therefor.  Such  claim  shall  be  made  by 
delivering  it  at  the  office  of  the  commission  or  to  any  commissioner 
or  to  any  person  whom  the  commission  may  by  regulation  designate, 
or  by  depositing  it  in  the  mail  properly  stamped  and  addressed  to 


62      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

the  commission  or  to  any  person  whom  the  commission  may  by  regu- 
lation designate. 

Sec.  19.  That  every  claim  shall  be  made  on  forms  to  be  furnished 
by  the  commission  and  shall  contain  all  the  information  required  by 
the  commission.  Each  claim  shall  be  sworn  to  by  the  person  entitled 
to  compensation  or  by  the  person  acting  on  his  behalf,  and.  except 
in  case  of  death,  shall  be  accompanied  by  a  certificate  of  the  em- 
ployee's physician  stating  the  nature  of  the  injury  and  the  nature 
and  probable  extent  of  the  disability.  For  any  reasonable  cause 
shown   the   commission   may   waive  the   provisions   of   this   section. 

Sec.  20.  That  all  original  claims  for  compensation  for  disability 
shall  be  made  within  sixty  days  after  the  injury.  All  original  claims 
for  compensation  for  death  shall  be  made  within  one  year  after  the 
death.  For  any  reasonable  cause  shown  the  commission  may  allow 
original  claims  for  compensation  for  disability  to  be  made  at  any  time 
within  one  year.  //  the  disability  was  the  result  of  an  injury  sus- 
tained during  the  period  of  the  Great  War,  and  arising  out  of 
conditions  due  to  the  war,  the  commission  may,  for  any  reasonable 
cause  shown,  allow  original  claims  of  civilian  employees  of  the  Ex- 
peditionary Forces  of  the  United  States  serving  outside  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  to  be  made  at  any  tmne  within  one  year 
after  the  passage  of  this  act.     (Italicized  as  amended). 

Sec.  21.  That  after  the  injury  the  employee  shall,  as  frequently 
and  at  such  times  and  places  as  may  be  reasonably  required,  submit 
himself  to  examination  by  a  medical  officer  of  the  United  States  or 
by  a  duly  qualified  physician  designated  or  approved  by  the  commis- 
sion. The  employee  may  have  a  duly  qualified  physician  designated 
and  paid  by  him  present  to  participate  in  such  examination.  For  all 
examinations  after  the  first  the  employee  shall,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
commission,  be  paid  his  reasonable  traveling  and  other  expenses  and 
loss  of  wages  incurred  in  order  to  submit  to  such  examination.  If  the 
employee  refuses  to  submit  himself  for  or  in  any  way  obstructs  any 
examination,  his  right  to  claim  compensation  under  this  Act  shall  be 
suspended  until  such  refusal  or  obstruction  ceases.  No  compensa- 
tion shall  be  payable  while  such  refusal  or  obstruction  continues,  and 
the  period  of  such  refusal  or  obstruction  shall  be  deducted  from  the 
period  for  which  compensation  is  payable  to  him. 

Sec  22.  That  in  case  of  any  disagreement  between  the  physician 
making  an  examination  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  the 
employee's  physician  the  commission  shall  appoint  a  third  physician, 
duly  qualified,  who  shall  make  an  examination. 

Sec  23.  That  fees  for  examinations  made  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  under  sections  twenty-one  and  twenty-two^  by  physicians  who 
are  not  already  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  'shall  be  fixed  by  the 
commission.  Such  fees,  and  any  sum  payable  to  the  employee  under 
section  twenty-one,  shall  be  paid  out  of  the  appropriation  for  the 
work  of  the  commission. 

Sec  24.  That  immediately  after  an  injury  to  an  employee  result- 
ing in  his  death  or  in  his  probable  disability,  his  immediate  superior 
shall  make  a  report  to  the  commission  containing  such  information  as 
the  commission  may  require,  and  shall  thereafter  make  such  supple- 
mentary reports  as  the  commission  may  require. 


LAWS  63 

Sec.  25.  That  any  assignment  of  a  claim  for  compensation  under 
this  Act  shall  be  void  and  all  compensation  and  claims  therefor  shall 
be  exempt  from  all  claims  of  creditors. 

Sec.  26.  If  an  injury  or  death  for  which  compensation  is  payable 
under  this  Act  is  caused  under  circumstances  creating  a  legal  liability 
upon  some  person  other  than  the  United  States  to  pay  damages 
therefor,  the  commission  may  require  the  beneficiary  to  assign  to  the 
United  States  any  right  of  action  he  may  have  to  enforce  such  lia- 
bility of  such  other  person  or  any  right  which  he  may  have  to  share 
in  any  money  or  other  property  received  in  satisfaction  of  such  lia- 
bility of  such  other  person,  or  the  commission  may  require  said  bene- 
ficiary to  prosecute  said  action  in  his  own  name. 

If  the  beneficiary  shall  refuse  to  make  such  assignment  or  to  prose- 
cute said  action  in  his  own  name  when  required  by  the  commission, 
he  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  compensation  under  this  Act. 

The  cause  of  action  when  assigned  to  the  United  States  may  be 
prosecuted  or  compromised  by  the  commission,  and  if  the  commission 
realizes  upon  such  cause  of  action,  it  shall  apply  the  money  or  other 
property  so  received  in  the  following  manner:  After  deducting  the 
amount  of  any  compensation  already  paid  to  the  beneficiary  and  the 
expenses  of  such  realization  or  collection,  which  sum  shall  be  placed 
to  the  credit  of  the  employees'  compensation  fund,  the  surplus,  if  any, 
shall  be  paid  to  the  beneficiary  and  credited  upon  any  future  pay- 
ments of  compensation  payable  to  him  on  account  of  the  same  injury. 

Sec.  2j.  That  if  an  injury  or  death  for  which  compensation  is 
payable  under  this  Act  is  caused  under  circumstances  creating  a  legal 
liability  in  some  person  other  than  the  United  States  to  pay  damages 
therefor,  and  a  beneficiary  entitled  to  compensation  from  the  United 
States  for  such  injury  or  death  receives,  as  a  result  of  a  suit  brought 
by  him  or  on  his  behalf,  or  as  a  result  of  a  settlement  made  by  him 
or  on  his  behalf,  any  money  or  other  property  in  satisfaction  of  the 
liability  of  such  other  person,  such  beneficiary  shall,  after  deducting 
the  costs  of  suit  and  a  reasonable  attorney's  fee,  apply  the  money  or 
other  property  so  received  in  the  following  manner: 

(A)  If  his  compensation  has  been  paid  in  whole  or  in  part,  he  shall 
refund  to  the  United  States  the  amount  of  compensation  which  has 
been  paid  by  the  United  States  and  credit  any  surplus  upon  future 
payments  of  compensation  payable  to  him  on  account  of  the  same 
injury.  Any  amount  so  refunded  to  the  United  States  shall  be  placed 
to  the  credit  of  the  employees'  compensation  fund. 

(B)  If  no  compensation  has  been  paid  to  him  by  the  United  States, 
he  shall  credit  the  money  or  other  property  so  received  upon  any 
compensation  payable  to  him  by  the  United  States  on  account  of 
the  same  injury. 

Sec.  28.  That  a  commission  is  hereby  created,  to  be  known  as  the 
United  States  Employees'  Compensation  Commission,  and  to  be 
composed  of  three  commissioners  appointed  by  the  President,  by  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  one  of  whom  shall  be 
designated  by  the  President  as  chairman.  No  commissioner  shall 
hold  any  other  office  or  position  under  the  United  States.  No  more 
than  two  of  said  commissioners  shall  be  members  of  the  same  political 
party.     One  of  said  commissioners   shall  be   appointed   for  a  term 


64     EMPLOYEES,  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

of  two  years,  one  for  a  term  of  four  years,  and  one  for  a  term  of  six 
years,  and  at  the  expiration  of  each  of  said  terms,  the  commissioner 
then  appointed  shall  be  appointed  for  a  period  of  six  years.  Each 
commissioner  shall  receive  a  salary  of  $4,000  a  year.  The  principal 
office  of  said  commission  shall  be  in  Washington,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, but  the  said  commission  is  authorized  to  perform  its  work  at  any 
place  deemed  necessary  by  said  commission,  subject  to  the  restric- 
tions and  limitations  of  this  Act. 

Sec.  28a.  Upon  the  organization  of  said  commission  and  notifica- 
tion to  the  heads  of  all  executive  departments  that  the  commission 
is  ready  to  take  up  the  work  devolved  upon  it  by  this  Act,  all  com- 
missions and  independent  bureaus,  by  or  in  which  payments  for 
compensation  are  now  provided,  together  with  the  adjustment  and 
settlement  of  such  claims,  shall  cease  and  determine,  and  such  execu- 
tive departments,  commissions,  and  independent  bureaus  shall  trans- 
fer all  pending  claims  to  said  commission  to  be  administered  by 
it.  The  said  commission  may  obtain,  in  all  cases,  in  addition  to  the 
reports  provided  in  section  twenty-four,  such  information  and  such 
reports  from  employees  of  the  departments  as  may  be  agreed  upon 
by  the  commission  and  the  heads  of  the  respective  departments. 
All  clerks  and  employees  now  exclusively  engaged  in  carrying  on  said 
work  in  the  various  executive  departments,  commissions,  and  inde- 
pendent bureaus,  shall  be  transferred  to,  and  become  employees  of, 
the  commission  at  their  present  grades  and  salaries. 

Sec.  29.  That  the  commission,  or  any  commissioner  by  authority 
of  the  commission,  shall  have  power  to  issue  subpoenas  for  and  compel 
the  attendance  of  witnesses  within  a  radius  of  one  hundred  miles,  to 
require  the  production  of  books,  papers,  documents,  and  other  evi- 
dence, to  administer  oaths,  and  to  examine  witnesses,  upon  any 
matter  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  commission. 

Sec.  30.  That  the  commission  shall  have  such  assistants,  clerks, 
and  other  employees  as  may  be  from  time  to  time  iprovided  by  Con- 
gress. They  shall  be  appointed  from  lists  of  eligibles  to  be  supplied 
by  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  and  in  accordance  with  the  civil- 
service  law. 

Sec.  31.  That  the  commission  shall  submit  annually  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  estimates  of  the  appropriations  necessary  for 
the  work  of  the  commission. 

Sec  32.  That  the  commission  is  authorized  to  make  necessary 
rules  and  regulations  for  the  enforcement  of  this  Act,  and  shall  de- 
cide all  questions  arising  under  this  Act. 

Sec  33.  That  the  commission  shall  make  to  Congress  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each  regular  session  a  report  of  its  work  for  the  preceding 
fiscal  year,  including  a  detailed  statement  of  appropriations  and  ex- 
penditures, a  detailed  statement  showing  receipts  of  and  expendi- 
tures from  the  employees'  compensation  fund,  and  its  recommenda- 
tions for  legislation. 

Sec  34.  That  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  thirtieth,  nineteen 
hundred  and  seventeen,  there  is  hereby  authorized  to  be  appropriated, 
from  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum 
of  $50,000  for  the  work  of  the  commission,  including  salaries  of  the 


LAWS  65 

commissioners  and  of  such  assistants,  clerks,  and  other  employees  as 
the  commission  may  deem  necessary,  and  for  traveling  expenses, 
expenses  of  medical  examinations  under  sections  twenty-one  and 
twenty-two,  reasonable  traveling  and  other  expenses  and  loss  of  wages 
payable  to  employees  under  section  twenty-one,  rent  and  equipment 
of  offices,  purchase  of  books,  stationery,  and  other  supplies,  printing 
and  binding  to  be  done  at  the  Government  Printing  Office,  and  other 
necessary  expenses. 

Sec.  35.  That  there  is  hereby  authorized  to  be  appropriated,  from 
any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  the  sum  of 
$500,000,  to  be  set  aside  as  a  separate  fund  in  the  Treasury,  to  be 
known  as  the  employees'  compensation  fund.  To  this  fund  there 
shall  be  added  such  sums  as  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  appro- 
priate for  the  purpose.  Such  fund,  including  all  additions  that  may 
be  made  to  it,  is  hereby  authorized  to  be  permanently  appropriated 
for  the  payment  of  the  compensation  provided  by  this  Act,  including 
the  medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services  and  supplies  provided  by 
section  nine,  and  the  transportation  and  burial  expenses  provided  by 
sections  nine  and  eleven.  The  commission  shall  submit  annually  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  estimates  of  the  appropriations  neces- 
ary  for  the  maintenance  of  the  fund. 

Sec.  36.  The  commission,  upon  consideration  of  the  claim  pre- 
sented by  the  beneficiary,  and  the  report  furnished  by  the  immediate 
superior  and  the  completion  of  such  investigation  as  it  may  deem  nec- 
essary, shall  determine  and  make  a  finding  of  facts  thereon  and  make 
an  award  for  or  against  payment  of  the  compensation  provided  for  in 
this  Act.  Compensation  when  awarded  shall  be  paid  from  the  em- 
ployees' compensation  fund. 

Sec.  37.  That  if  the  original  claim  for  compensation  has  been 
made  within  the  time  specified  in  section  twenty,  the  commission  may, 
at  any  time,  on  its  own  motion  or  on  application,  review  the  award, 
and,  in  accordance  with  the  facts  found  on  such  review,  may  end, 
diminish,  or  increase  the  compensation  previously  awarded,  or,  if 
compensation  has  been  refused  or  discontinued,  award  compensa- 
tion. 

Sec  38.  That  if  any  compensation  is  paid  under  a  mistake  of  law 
or  of  fact,  the  commission  shall  immediately  cancel  any  award  under 
which  such  compensation  has  been  paid  and  shall  recover,  as  far  as 
practicable,  any  amount  which  has  been  so  paid.  Any  amount  so 
recovered  shall  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  employees'  compensation 
fund. 

Sec  39.  That  whoever  makes,  in  any  affidavit  required  under  sec- 
tion four  or  in  any  claim  for  compensation,  any  statement,  knowing 
it  to  be  false,  shall  be  guilty  of  perjury  and  shall  be  punished  by  a 
fine  of  not  more  than  $2,000,  or  by  imprisonment  for  not  more  than 
one  year,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Sec  40.    That  wherever  used  in  this  Act — 

The  singular  includes  the  plural  and  the  masculine  includes  the 
feminine. 

The  term  "employee"  includes  all  civil  employees  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company. 


66     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

The  term  "commission"  shall  be  taken  to  refer  to  the  United  States 
Employees'  Compensation  Commission  provided  for  in  section  twenty- 
eight. 

The  term  "physician"  includes  surgeons. 

The  term  "monthly  pay"  shall  be  taken  to  refer  to  the  monthly 
pay  at  the  time  of  the  injury. 

Sec.  41.  That  all  Acts  or  parts  of  Acts  inconsistent  with  this  Act 
are  hereby  repealed:  Provided,  however,  That  for  injuries  occurring 
prior  to  the  passage  of  this  Act  compensation  shall  be  paid  under  the 
law  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  this  Act:  And  provided 
further,  That  if  an  injury  or  death  for  which  compensation  is  payable 
under  this  Act  is  caused  under  circumstances  creating  a  legal  liability 
in  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  to  pay  damages  therefor  under  the 
laws  of  any  State,  Territory,  or  possession  of  the  United  States  or  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  or  of  any  foreign  country,  no  compensation 
shall  be  payable  until  the  person  entitled  to  compensation  releases 
to  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  any  right  of  action  which  he  may 
have  to  enforce  such  liability  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  or 
until  he  assigns  to  the  United  States  any  right  which  he  may  have  to 
share  in  any  money  or  other  property  received  in  satisfaction  of  such 
liability  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company. 

Sec.  42.  That  the  President  may,  from  time  to  time,  transfer  the 
administration  of  this  Act  so  far  as  employees  of  the  Panama  Canal 
and  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  are  concerned  to  the  governor 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  and  so  far  as  employees  of  the  Alaskan  Engi- 
neering Commission  are  concerned  to  the  chairman  of  that  commis- 
sion, in  which  cases  the  words  "commission"  and  "its"  wherever 
they  appear  in  this  Act  shall,  so  far  as  necessary  to  give  effect  to 
such  transfer,  be  read  "governor  of  the  Panama  Canal"  or  "chairman 
of  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission,"  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
"his";  and  the  expenses  of  medical  examinations  under  sections 
twenty-one  and  twenty-two,  and  the  reasonable  traveling  and  other 
expenses  and  loss  of  wages  payable  to  employees  under  section 
twenty-one,  shall  be  paid  out  of  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal 
or  for  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission  or  out  of  funds  of  the 
Panama  Railroad,  as  the  case  may  be,  instead  of  out  of  the  appro- 
priation for  the  work  of  the  commission. 

In  the  case  of  compensation  to  employees  of  the  Panama  Canal  or 
of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company  for  temporary  disability,  either 
total  or  partial,  the  President  may  authorize  the  governor  of  the 
Panama  Canal  to  waive,  at  his  discretion,  the  making  of  the  claim 
required  by  section  eighteen.  In  the  case  of  alien  employees  of  the 
Panama  Canal  or  of  the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  or  of  any  class 
or  classes  of  them,  the  President  may  remove  or  modify  the  minimum 
limit  established  by  section  six  on  the  monthly  compensation  for 
disability  and  the  minimum  limit  established  by  clause  (K)  of  sec- 
tion ten  on  the  monthly  pay  on  which  death  compensation  is  to  be 
computed.  The  President  may  authorize  the  governor  of  the  Panama 
Canal  and  the  chairman  of  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission  to 
pay  the  compensation  provided  by  this  Act,  including  the  medical, 
surgical,  and  hospital  services  and  supplies  provided  by  section  nine 


LAWS  67 

and  the  transportation  and  burial  expenses  provided  by  sections 
nine  and  eleven,  out  of  the  appropriations  for  the  Panama  Canal  and 
for  the  Alaskan  Engineering  Commission,  such  appropriations  to  be 
reimbursed  for  such  payments  by  the  transfer  of  funds  from  the 
employees'  compensation  fund. 

1919 — Act  of  July  11,  1919  (41  Stat.  L.,  68,  104) — An  Act 
Making  appropriations  to  provide  for  the  expenses  of 
the  Government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1920,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses. 

*  *  *  * 

Sec.  11.  That  all  of  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved September  7,  1916,  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  compensation 
for  employees  of  the  United  States  suffering  injuries  while  in  the 
performance  of  their  duties,  and  for  other  purposes,"  are  hereby 
extended  to  employees  of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
so  far  as  they  may  be  applicable,  except  to  those  members  of  the 
police  and  fire  departments  of  the  District  of  Columbia  who  are  pen- 
sioned or  pensionable  under  the  provisions  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia Appropriation  Act  approved  September  1,  1916.  Such  compensa- 
tion as  the  commission  provided  for  in  said  Act  may  award  to  em- 
ployees of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  shall  be  paid 
in  the  manner  provided  by  law  for  the  payment  of  the  general  ex- 
penses of  the  Government  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  For  carry- 
ing out  the  provisions  of  this  section,  there  is  appropriated  $5,000; 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  shall  submit 
annually  to  Congress,  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  esti- 
mates of  appropriations  necessary  for  the  foregoing  purpose. 

1921 — Act  of  March  4,  1921  (41  Stat.  L.,  1367,  1378) — An 
Act  Making  appropriations  for  sundry  civil  expenses 
of  the  Government  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 

1922,  and  for  other  purposes. 

*  *  *  * 

EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Salaries:  Three  commissioners,  at  $4,000  each;  secretary,  $3,000; 
attorney,  $4,000;  chief  statistician,  $3,500;  chief  of  accounts,  $2,500; 
assistant  chief  of  accounts,  $1,600;  accountant,  $2,250;  claim  ex- 
aminers— chief,  $2,250,  assistant  $2,000,  assistant  $1,800,  five  assist- 
ants at  $1,600  each;  special  agents — two  at  $1,800  each,  two  at  $1,600 
each;  clerks — seven  of  class  three,  twelve  of  class  two,  twenty-seven 
of  class  one,  three  at  $1,000  each;  chief  telephone  operator,  $1,000; 
messenger,  $840;  experts  and  temporary  assistants  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  elsewhere  to  be  paid  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  $8  per 
day,  and  temporary  clerks,  stenographers,  or  typists  in  the  District 


68      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

of  Columbia,  to  be  paid  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  $100  per  month, 
$10,000;  in  all,  $124,940. 

Contingent  Expenses:  For  furniture  and  other  equipment  and  re- 
pairs thereto;  law  books,  books  of  references,  periodicals,  stationery, 
and  supplies,  traveling  expenses;  printing  and  binding  to  be  done 
at  the  Government  Printing  Office;  medical  examinations,  traveling 
and  other  expenses,  and  loss  of  wages  payable  to  employees  under 
sections  21  and  22  of  the  Act  of  September  7,  1916,  and  for  miscel- 
laneous items;  in  all,  $20,000. 

Employees'  Compensation  Fund :  For  the  payment  of  compensation 
provided  by  "An  Act  to  provide  compensation  for  employees  of  the 
United  States  suffering  injuries  while  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties,  and  for  other  purposes,"  approved  September  7,  1916,  in- 
cluding medical,  surgical,  and  hospital  services,  and  supplies  pro- 
vided by  section  9,  and  the  transportation  and  burial  expenses  pro- 
vided by  sections  9  and  11,  $1,800,000,  to  remain  available  until  ex- 
pended. 


APPENDIX  5 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENTS 
Explanatory  Note 

Statements  showing  appropriations,  receipts,  expenditures, 
and  other  financial  data  for  a  series  of  years  constitute  the 
most  effective  single  means  of  exhibiting  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  a  service.  Due  to  the  fact  that  Congress  has 
adopted  no  uniform  plan  of  appropriations  for  the  several 
services  and  that  the  latter  employ  no  uniform  plan  in  respect 
to  the  recording  and  reporting  of  their  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures, it  is  impossible  to  present  data  of  this  character  accord- 
ing to  any  standard  scheme  of  presentation.  In  the  case  of 
some  services  the  administrative  reports  contain  tables  showing 
financial  conditions  and  operations  of  the  service  in  consider- 
able detail ;  in  others  financial  data  are  almost  wholly  lacking. 
Careful  study  has  in  all  cases  been  made  of  such  data  as  are 
available,  and  the  effort  has  been  made  to  present  the  results  in 
such  a  form  as  will  exhibit  the  financial  operations  of  the 
service  in  the  most  effective  way  that  circumstances  permit. 

The  following  statement  gives  the  appropriations  and  ex- 
penditures of  the  Employees'  Compensation  Commission  since 
the  date  of  its  organization  in  191 6.  The  expenditures  for 
the  years  19 17  to  191 9,  inclusive,  are  figured  on  the  accrual 
basis — that  is,  the  tables  show  the  total  expenditures  out  of  an 
appropriation,  regardless  of  whether  the  actual  disbursements 
were  made  during  the  current  fiscal  year  or  during  the  two 
succeeding  years  in  which  the  money  was  available.  The 
figures  for  1920  and  1921  show  disbursements  during  the 
current  years  only.     As  the  funds  are  available  for  two  ad- 

69 


yo     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

ditional  years  in  which  to  take  care   of  encumbrances,  the 
figures  for  those  years  are  not  complete. 

The  table  headed  "Employees'  Compensation  Fund"  gives 
the  appropriations  to  this  fund  and  the  total  disbursements  on 
account  of  compensation  for  the  year  19 17  to  1922. 


APPENDICES 


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APPENDIX  6 
STATISTICS  OF  INJURIES  AND  AWARDS 


Sept.  7,  1916 

to 
Dec.  31,  1918 


Calendar  year 


1919 


1921  * 


Injuries  reported   

Claims    filed: 

Death     

Disability    

Total    

Cases    passed    upon,    result- 
ing in: 

Death    

Permanent  total  disability; 
Permanent  partial  disability 
Temporary  total  disability. 

Total     

Fatal  cases  passed   upon: 
Cases  with  dependents.... 
Number  of  dependents.  . . . 
Total     monthly    compensa- 
tion      

Total    estimated    valuation 

of  awards 

Total   cost  of   fatal   cases. 
Cases  without  dependents. 
Injury  cases  passed  upon: 
Permanent    total    disability 
Compensated    cases 
Monthly  Compensation . . 
Estimated    valuation .... 
Non-compensated  cases. . 
Permanent    partial    disabil- 
ity 

Compensated  cases 

Total  award  

Non-compensated  cases . . 
Temporary  total  disability- 
Compensated  cases  

Total  award 

Non-compensated    cases. 
Medical  payments 

Cases   with   medical   pay- 
ment     

Total  amount  of  payments 


40,194 

665 
18,612 
19,277 


6Ii 

885 
28,256 
29,772 

348 
767 

$  12,907.00 

,1,985,036.00 
,2,011,703.08 
265 


$  1,074.28 
$  159,410.17 
o 


798 
$  88,018.98 
87 

15,374 

$9,882 


10,550 
$239,479.31 


25,813 

499 

13,425 
13,924 


587 

607 
18,130 
19,354 

410 

885 

$  15,548.00 

,2,249,410.00 
52,300,768.51 
117 


3o 
$  1,811.76 
$  234,235.00 
o 


528 
$  134,818.65 
79 

11,698 

622,696.97 

$6,432 


9,922 
$  265,987.93 


20,080 

427 
10,505 
10,932 


475 
33 

535 
15,663 
16,706 

324 
630 

$  11,143-53 

$1,537,029.00 
$1,622,008.97 
151 


32 
$  1,908.66 
$  240,291.48 
1 


471 
$  304,835.79 
64 

„  9,424 
610,137.40 
$6,239 


9,504 
$  310,546.83 


18,390 

310 

7,857 
8,167 


397 


11,936 


250 


$9,36i.7i 
$1,342,395 
60 


498 
$  565,846.87 
73 

6,502 
$433,698.55 


5,434    b 


•  Tentative 

b  Not  yet  avoidable. 


APPENDIX  7 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  1 
Explanatory  Note 

The  bibliographies  appended  to  the  several  monographs  aim 
to  list  only  those  works  which  deal  directly  with  the  services 
to  which  they  relate,  their  history,  activities,  organization, 
methods  of  business,  problems,  etc.  They  are  intended  pri- 
marily to  meet  the  needs  of  those  persons  who  desire  to  make 
a  further  study  of  the  services  from  an  administrative  stand- 
point. They  thus  do  not  include  the  titles  of  publications  of 
the  services  themselves,  except  in  so  far  as  they  treat  of  the 
services,  their  work  and  problems.  Nor  do  they  include  books 
or  articles  dealing  merely  with  technical  features  other  than 
administrative  of  the  work  of  the  services.  In  a  few  cases 
explanatory  notes  have  been  appended  where  it  was  thought 
they  would  aid  in  making  known  the  character  or  value  of  the 
publication  to  which  they  relate. 

After  the  completion  of  the  series  the  bibliographies  may 
be  assembled  and  separately  published  as  a  bibliography  of  the 
Administrative  Branch  of  the  National  Government. 

EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 
Official  Publications 

Panama    Canal.     Governor.     Annual    report  .  .  .  Washing- 
ton, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 15- 
For  earlier  reports  see  U.  S.  Isthmian  Canal  commission. 

U.  S.  Alaskan  engineering  commission.     Reports.     Washing- 
ton, Govt,  print,   off.,   19 16- 

73 


74      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 
Bureau  of  labor.     Compensation  for  injuries  to  artisans 


and  laborers  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.     (In  its 
Bulletin  no.  jj.     Washington,  1908.     p.  333-5) 
Summary  of  the  act  of  May  30,  1908. 

Bureau  of  labor  statistics.     Compensation  for  accidents 


to  employees  of  the  United  States,  report  of  operations  un- 
der the  act  of  May  30,  1908.  September  17,  19 14.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 14.  331  p.  incl.  tables.  (Bulle- 
tin, whole  no.  155) 

Covers  the  years  August  1,  1908  to  June  30,  191 3.  Issued 
also  as  House  doc.  1135,  U.  S.,  63d  Cong.,  2d  sess.  A 
table  supplementing  the  information  in  Bulletin  155  to  June 
30,  1 916,  is  found  in  the  Monthly  review  of  the  Bureau  of 
labor  statistics  for  Sept.,  1916,  p.  337. 
For  earlier  report  covering  the  years  Aug.  1,  1908  to  June 
30,  191 1,  see  U.  S.  Dept.  of  commerce  and  labor.  Com- 
pensation for  injuries,  etc. 

Compensation  law   for  injured  employees  of  the 

United  States.  (In  its  Monthly  review,  Oct.,  19 16,  v. 
3:  443-50 

[Brief  explanation  and  text  of  the  act  of  Sept.  7,  1916,  which 
supersedes   all  previous   federal   compensation   acts] 

Compensation  to  injured  government  employees. 


Regulations  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  labor  governing  the 
operation  of  the  government  compensation  act  for  em- 
ployees injured  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  Acts 
of  May  30,  1908,  Mar.  11,  1912,  July  27,  1912.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  191 5.  11  p. 
— I  Operation   of   the    federal   compensatipn   act    in 


191 4,  1915,  and  19 16.      (In  its  Monthly  review,  Aug.,  19 16, 

v-  3:  337) 

A  table,  supplementing  the  information  given  in  Bulle- 
tin 155  of  the  Bureau,  giving  information  to  June  30, 
19 1 6. 

— Bureau  of  labor  statistics.  Workmen's  compensation 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  foreign  countries.     Wash- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  75 

ington,  Govt,  print,  off.,   19 17.     961  p.      (Bulletin,  whole 
no.  203) 

Analysis  of  law  of  Sept.  7,  1916,  p.  164;  Text  of  law  of 
Sept.  7,  1916,  p.  931-9;  Executive  orders:  no.  2455  (Em- 
ployees of  the  Panama  Canal  railroad  co.)  no.  2463  (Em- 
ployees of  the  Alaskan  engineering  commission)  p.  939-40. 
—  Congress.     Congressional   record :   containing   the   pro- 


ceedings and  debates  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress,  first 
session,  Dec.  6,  191 5 — Sept.  8,  19 16.  Washington,  Govt, 
print,  off.,  1916.     17  v.  and  index. 

The  index  (History  of  bills  and  resolutions,  p.  317)  con- 
tains a  history  of  H.  R.  153 16,  Kern-McGillicuddy  bill, 
together  with  page  references  to  speeches  in  Congress  on  the 
bill. 

Conference  committees,  1912-1913.  Compensa- 
tion to  certain  injured  government  employees  injured  in 
the  line  of  duty.  Conference  report,  to  accompany  H  R. 
2412 1.  Jan.  24,  19 1 3.  [Washington,  Govt,  print,  off., 
I9I3l  4  P-     (62d  Cong.,  3d  sess.  House  Rept.  no.  1380) 

Serial  6335. 
191 5-16.     Compensation  for  injured  federal 


employees.  Sept.  5,  19 16.  Conference  report  to  accom- 
pany H.  ,R.  1^^.  [Washington,  Govt  print,  off.,  19 16] 
2  p.      (64th  (II  1st  sess.  House  Rept.  no.  1 195) 

^\  Serial  6905 

House.  Committee  on  claims.     Alice  M.  Burrows 

and  others.  Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  2412 1  [to  pay 
certain  employees  of  the  government  for  injuries  received 
while  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  .  .  .  ]  May  6,  19 12. 
[Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  19 12]  43  p.  (62d  Cong., 
2d  sess.  House  .Rept.  no.  659)  Serial  6136 
Claims  for  personal  injury  and  damage  to 


private  property.  Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  23451.  [To 
pay  certain  employees  of  the  government  for  injuries  re- 
ceived while  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties]  Washington, 
Govt,  print,  off.,  19 12,     96  p,     (62d  Cong,,  zA  §ess.  House 


76      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Rept  no.  569)  Serial  6136 
Pay   0f    certain   government   employees   in- 


jured while  in  the  discharge  of  duty  .  .  .  Report.  To  ac- 
company H.  R.  26367.  Washington,  Govt,  print,  off., 
1 9 10.     57  p.     (61  st  Cong.,  2d  sess.  House  Rept.    1476) 

Serial  5599 

[The  bill  provided  $21,154  in  payment  of  26  claims.  The  reports 
and  memoranda  explaining  each  claim  are  included  and  passage 
of  bill  was  recommended] 

U.  S.  Congress.  House.  Committee  on  mines  and  mining. 
Compensation  for  injuries  received  by  government  em- 
ployees. Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  31534  [to  amend  sec- 
tion 1  of  the  act  of  May  30,  1908]  Jan.  20,  191 1. 
[Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  191 1]  2  p.  (61st  Cong., 
3d  sess.  House  Rept.  no.   1953)  Serial  5847 

Compensation  to   certain  employees  of  the 

United  States  for  injuries  sustained  in  course  of  their  em- 
ployment. .  .  .  Report  to  accompany  H.  ,R.  13570. 
[Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  191 1]  2  p.  (62d  Cong., 
1st  sess.  House  Rept.  148)  Serial  6078 

Committee    on   the  judiciary.     Compensation   of 

government  employees  suffering  injuries  while  on  duty  .  .  . 
Report.  To  accompany  H.  R.  153 16.  [Washington, 
Govt,  print,  off.,  1916]  14  p.  (64th  Cong.,  1st  sess.  House 
Rept.  678)  Serial  6904 

[Summary  of  principal  features  of  the  bill  with  recommendation 
for  its  passage] 

Compensation  to  government  employees  [for 


injuries.  Hearing,  March  23,  1908]  Washington,  Govt, 
print,  off.,  1908.  54  p. 

Federal  employees'   compensation  bill.  .  .  . 

Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  20995.  [Washington,  Govt, 
print,  off.,  1912]  28  p.  (62d  Cong.,  2d  sess.  House 
Rept.  578)  Serial  613 1 
Federal    employees'     compensation.     Hear- 


ings .  .  .  February    10,    19 12.     Washington,   Govt,   print, 
off.,  1912.     51  p. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  77 

Federal    employees'     compensation.     Hear- 
ings ...  on  federal  employees'  compensation.     March  31 
and  April  3,  1914,  Jan.  28,  1916.     Washington,  Govt,  print, 
off.,   19 14- 1 6.     3  pam.     (Serial  16,  pt.   1-3) 
Federal   employees'   compensation  .  .  .  Re- 


port. To  accompany  H.  R.  15222.  [Washington,  Govt, 
print,  off.,  19 14 J  31  p.  (63d  Cong.,  2d  sess.  House. 
,Rept.  561)  Serial  6559 
Senate.  Committee  on  claims.  Alice  M.  Bur- 
rows and  others.  Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  241 21  [to 
pay  certain  employees  of  the  government  for  injuries  sus- 
tained while  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties]  July  13, 
1912.  [Washington,  Govt  print,  off.,  1912]  47  p.  (62d 
Cong.,  2d  sess.  Senate.  Rept.  no.  913)  Serial  6128 
Claims  for  personal  injuries  [to  satisfy  the 


claims  of  certain  employees  of  the  government  for  injuries 
received,  etc.]  .Report  to  accompany  H.  R.  23451.  Aug. 
1,  1912.  [Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1912]  108  p. 
(62d  Cong.,  2d  sess.  Senate  Rept.  no.  1002) 

Serial  6128 

U.  S.  Congress.  Senate.  Committee  on  claims.  Payment 
of  certain  government  employees  injured  while  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duty  .  .  .  Report.  To  accompany  H.  R.  26367. 
[Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  191 1]  [81]  p.  (61st 
Cong.,  3d  sess.  Senate.  Rept.  1190)  Serial  5844 

"The  House  report  on  H.  R.  26367,  and  the  Senate  reports 
on  the  items  that  have  been  added  by  way  of  amendment, 
are  made  a  part  of  this  report. " 

Committee  on  education  and  labor.     Compensation 

for  employees  of  the  United  States.  July  25,  1916.  .Re- 
port to  accompany  H.  R.  153 16.  [Washington,  Govt, 
print,  off.,  191 6]  1  p.  (64th  Cong.,  1st  sess.  Senate  Rept. 
no.  733)  Serial  6899 

Committee  on  the  judiciary.     Accident  compen- 


sation   to    government    employees.     Hearing  ...  on     S. 
2846,  a  bill  to  provide  compensation  for  accidental  injuries 


78      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

to  employees  of  the  United  States  resulting  in  disability  or 
death.  February  26,  19 16  .  .  .  Washington,  Govt,  print, 
off.,  1916.  57  p. 

Government  employees'  accident  compen- 
sation bill  .  .  .  Report.  To  accompany  S.  2846.  [Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  1916]  11  p.  (64th  Cong.,  1st  sess. 
Senate  Rept.  515)  Serial  6899 

Dept.  of  commerce.     Extension  of  workmen's  compen- 


sation act  to  employees  of  Coast  and  geodetic  survey.  Let- 
ter from  the  Secretary  of  commerce,  transmitting  draft 
of  a  bill  to  include  in  the  class  of  employees  now  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  the  workmen's  compensation  act  employees 
of  the  Coast  and  geodetic  survey.  Feb.  5,  19 14.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  1914.  2  p.  (63d  Cong.,  2d  sess. 
House  Doc.  no.  708)  Serial  6757 
—  Dept.  of  commerce  and  labor.  Compensation  for  injur- 
ies to  employees  of  the  United  States  arising  from  accidents 
occurring  between  August  1,  1908,  and  June  30,  191 1.  Re- 
port of  operations  under  the  act  of  May  30,  1908.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 13.  234  p.  incl.  tables. 
Later  reports  issued  by  the.  U.  S.  Bureau  of  labor  statistics. 
Compensation  to  injured  government  employees. 


Regulations  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  commerce  and  labor 
governing  the  operation  of  the  government  compensation  act 
for  employees  injured  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
.  .  .  Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1912.      11  p. 
Notice  of   right  to  compensation  for  injuries  to 


artisans    and    laborers    employed    by    the    United    States. 

[Washington,  1912]  Broadside  36x28  cm. 

To  be  posted  in  a  conspicuous  place  in  each  establishment  or 

office. 
U.  S.  Dept.  of  commerce  and  labor.     Reports  of  the  Depart- 
ment   of    commerce   and    labor,    1908- 19 12.     Washington, 

Govt,  print,  off.,  1909-1913.     5  v. 
Dept.  of  labor.     Reports  of  the  Department  of  labor, 

1913-1916.     Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1914-1917.  4  v, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  79 

U.  S.  Employees'  compensation  commission.     Annual  report. 

1st-    19 1 6- 1 7-     Washington,    Govt,    print,    off.,  19 17- 
Hospitals  and  physicians  available  to  employees  of  the 

United  States  government  injured  in  the  performance  of 

duty  under  Federal  compensation  act  of  September  7,  19 16. 

Washington,   Govt,   print,   off.,    1920.   91   p. 
Instructions  relative  to  medical  and  surgical  relief  for 


injured  civil  employees  of  the  United  States.  [Washing- 
ton, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 17]   5  p.  incl.  tables. 

—  Regulations  concerning  duties  of  employees,  official  supe- 
riors, medical  officers  and  others  under  the  Federal  com- 
pensation act  of  Sept.  7,  19 16;  rev.,  Oct.  15,  191 9.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 19.     75  p- 

—  .Right  to  compensation  for  personal  injuries  of  civil  em- 


ployees of  the  United  States  under  Federal  compensation  act 
of   Sept.    7,    19 1 6.     Washington,   Govt,  print,   off.,    19 18. 

[4]  p. 

—  Travel  regulations,  effective  Mar.  15,  19 17.     Washing- 
ton, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 17.     40  p. 

—  Employers'  liability  and  workmen's  compensation  com- 


mission. Message  of  the  President  of  the  U.  S.  transmit- 
ting the  report  of  the  Employers'  liability  and  workmen's 
compensation  commission  .  .  .  together  with  the  hearings 
held  before  the  commission  .  .  .  Washington,  Govt,  print, 
off.,  1912.  2  v.     (62d  Cong.,  2d  sess.  Senate  Doc.  338) 

Serial  61 5 1-2 

—  Isthmian  canal  commission.  1905- 1914.  Annual  reports 
.  .  .  Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,   1906-14.     15  v. 

[Reports  for  1911-14  contain  tabular  statements  of  injuries  sus- 
tained by  employees  of  the  Isthmian  canal  commission  for  which 
compensation  was  due  or  claimed  under  the  compensation  acts] 

Later  statements  are  contained  in  the  reports  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Panama  Canal. 

—  Laws,  statutes,  etc.     Text  of  the  compensation  act  [Pub- 


lic— no.  267-     Sixty- fourth  Congress.     H.  R.  15316] 
Approved  Sept.  7,  19 16.     14  p. 


80      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 
Solicitor  of  the  Dept.  of  commerce  and  labor.     Opin- 


ions of  the  solicitor  for  the  Department  of  commerce  and 
labor  dealing  with  workmen's  compensation  under  the  act 
of  Congress  granting  to  certain  employees  of  the  United 
States  the  right  to  receive  from  it  compensation  for  injuries 
sustained  in  the  course  of  their  employment,  approved  May 
30,  1908.  From  August,  1908,  to  August  19 12.  Wash- 
ington, Govt,  print,  off.,  19 12.  646  p. 
"Text  of  legislation":  p.  13-16. 

Solicitor  of  the  Dept.  of  labor.     Opinions  of  the  solicitor 


for  the  Department  of  labor  dealing  with  workmen's  compen- 
sation under  the  act  of  Congress  granting  to  certain  em- 
ployees of  the  United  States  the  right  to  receive  from  it 
compensation  for  injuries  sustained  in  the  course  of  their 
employment,  approved  May  30,  1908,  with  the  amendments 
thereto.  From  August,  1908,  to  April,  191 5.  Washington, 
Govt,  print,  off.,  1915.  811  p. 
"Text  of  legislation":  p.  15-18. 
Treasury  dept.  Appropriation  for  Employees'  compen- 
sation commission  for  contingent  expenses.  Letter  .  .  . 
transmitting  supplemental  estimates  of  appropriation  re- 
quired by  the  Employees'  compensation  commission,  for 
.  .  .  1920.  [Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1919.]  3  p.  incl. 
tables.     (66th  Cong.,  2d  sess.  House.  Doc.  492) 

Serial  7770 

Unofficial  Publications  :  Books  and  Pamphlets 

Boyd,  James  H.  Federal  compensation  acts  for  artisans  and 
laborers  injured  in  the  service  of  the  government.  {In  his 
Treatise  on  law  of  compensation  for  injuries  to  work- 
men .  .  .  Indianapolis    [ci9i3]    p.   941-99) 

[Nature  and  scope  of  act,  text  of  acts  of  1908,  191 1,  1912,  rules 
and  regulations,  administrative  forms,  construction  of  federal 
acts,  definitions,  etc.] 

Commission  on  workmen's  compensation  laws  (American 
federation  of  labor  and  National  civic  federation)     Work- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  81 

men's  compensation.  Report  upon  operations  of  State 
laws  .  .  .  Commission's  findings,  views  of  employers  and 
workmen,  digest  of  laws,  rules  of  state  boards  of  awards. 
Washington,  Govt,  print,  off.,  1914.  255  p.  (U.  S.) 
63d  Cong.,  26.  sess.  Senate.  Doc.  419)  Serial  6577 

Dosker,  Nicholas  H.  Manual  of  compensation  law ;  state  and 
federal.     Louisville,  Ky.,  Baldwin  law  book  co.,  inc.,  191 7. 

548  p. 

Federal  act  of  19 16 — annotated,  p.  386-456. 

Honnold,  Arthur  B.  United  States  (federal  acts)  (In  his 
Treatise  on  the  American  and  English  workmen's  com- 
pensation laws.     Kansas  City,  Mo.,  1917.     v.  2:  1672-84) 

Rubinow,  Issac  F.  Social  insurance,  with  special  reference 
to  American  conditions.     New  York,  H.  Holt  and  company, 

1913.     525  p. 

Workmen's  compensation  publicity  bureau,  New  York.  Di- 
gest of  workmen's  compensation  laws  in  the  United  States 
and  territories,  with  annotations.  4th  ed.,  rev.  to  Decem- 
ber 1,  191 5.  New  York  city,  Workmen's  compensation  pub- 
licity bureau  [ci9i5]   73  numb.  1. 

19 16     Supplement,    rev.    to    November  1,  19 16. 

New  York  city,  Workmen's  compensation  publicity  bureau 

[ci9i6]  24  numb.  1.,  10  1. 

Provisions  of  act  in  tabular  statement,     p.  64-75. 

Periodical  Articles 

Andrews,  John  B.  New  federal  workmen's  compensation  law. 
Survey,  Sept.  23,  1916,  v.  36:  617-8. 

[Comments  on  the  law  and  legislation  leading  up  to  its  enactment] 

Clark,  L.  D.  Workmen's  compensation  and  the  federal  cong- 
ress. Journal  of  political  economy,  Oct.,  1915,  v.  23: 
807-21. 

[Reviews  and  compares  the  several  federal  compensation  acts  in 
force  and  the  need  of  legislation  to  provide  compensation  for  the 
other  three-fourths  of  the  civilian  employees  of  the  government] 


82      EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

Compensation  for  the  men  of  the  E-  2.  Survey.  Jan.  22, 
1916,  v.  35:  473- 

[The  death  of  four  men  and  injury  to  ten  others  emphasizes  need 
of  more  adequate  compensation  law   for  federal   employees] 

Compensation  for  federal  employees  for  accidents  and  diseases. 
American  labor  legislation  review,  Dec,  1912,  v.  2:  559-64. 

Earl,  Charles.  The  need  of  a  new  Federal  employees'  acci- 
dent compensation  law.  American  labor  legislation  review, 
Feb.,  1913,  v.  3:  43-52. 

Written  by  the  Solicitor  of  the  Department  of  commerce 
and  labor  to  show  the  limited  application  of  present 
laws. 

Federal  compensation.     Outlook,  June  28,  1916,  v.  113  :  445-6. 

[Urges  passage  of  the  McGillicuddy  bill] 

Federal  compensation  to  workmen.  Outlook,  May  2,  1908, 
v.  89:  4-5. 

[On  the  Sterling  bill  "to  compensate  civilian  government  em- 
ployees for  personal  injury  in  service"] 

Federal  employees'  compensation  commission.  Outlook,  April 
4,  1917,  v.  115:  602. 

[Names  and  special  qualifications  of  the  three  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  President] 

Federal  workmen's  compensation  law.     American  labor  legis- 
lation review,  Sept.,  1916,  supplement.     10  p. 
[Text  of  the  act  of  Sept.  7,  1916] 

Hanna,  H.  S.  Memorandum  on  accident  reports  from  Federal 
government  shops.  Monthly  review  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
labor  statistics,  April,  1916.  v.  2:  73-76. 

Lowell,  J.  A.  Federal  workmen's  compensation.  American 
economic  review,  Mar.,  19 13,  v.  3:  188-90. 

[Points  out  the  value  of  the  Opinions  of  the  Solicitor  of  the 
Department  of  commerce  and  labor  dealing  with  workmen's  com- 
pensation to  those  engaged  in  administering  similar  acts  in  the 
various  states] 

McGillicuddy,  D.  J.    Workmen's  compensation  for  federal  em- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  83 

ployees.     American  labor  legislation  review,  Mar.,  191 5,  v. 

5-  n-4. 
O'Donoghue,    D.    W.     Federal   accident  compensation  flaw. 

Georgetown  law  journal,  Mar.,  1915,  v.  3:  17-27. 
Rhodes,  J.  E.     Compensation  administration  and  adjustments. 
American  academy  of  political  and  social  science.     Annals, 
Mar.,  1917,  v.  70:  273-96. 

[Has  reference  to  state  laws,  but  general  principles   are  of  in- 
terest in  a  study  of  the  federal  law] 

Rubinow,  I.  M.     Accident  compensation  for  federal  employees. 
American  labor  legislation  review,  Feb.,  1912,  v.  2:  29-42. 

[Points  out  defects  in  present  compensation  laws  and  necessity  for 
revision  of  the  regulations] 

Accident  compensation  for  federal  employees.     Survey, 


Aug.  16,  1 91 3,  v.  30:  624-8. 

[Reviews  the  report  of  operations  under  the  act  of  May  30,  1908 
and  shows  need  of  better  law] 

Uncle  Sam's  duty  as  employer.  Nation,  May  25,  19 16,  v. 
102:  559-60. 

[Passage  of  Kern-McGillicuddy  bill  is  urgently  recommended] 

United  States  compensates  its  injured  employees.  World  to- 
day, Nov.,  1908,  v.   15:  1181. 

*  [Explains  provisions  of  the  act  of  May  30,  1908] 

Workmen's  compensation  for  employees  of  the  United  States. 
Why  Congress  should  pass  the  Kern-McGillicuddy  bill. 
American  labor  legislation  review,-  Dec,  1914,  v.  4:  581-4. 

[Points  out  weaknesses  of  the  act  of  May  30,  1908,  and  superiority 
of  the  Kern-McGillicuddy  bill.  Table  compares  main  provisions 
of  existing  law  with  those  of  the  new  bill  and  with  the  national 
laws  of  Switzerland,  Germany  and   Great   Britain] 

Manuscripts 

U.  S.  Interdepartmental  conference  on  the  revision  of  regu- 
lations for  the  administration  of  the  act  of  May  30,  1908 


84     EMPLOYEES'  COMPENSATION  COMMISSION 

(Accident  compensation  act)  Washington  .  .  .  Proceed- 
ings, report  and  resolutions  [Washington,  1910]  1  p.  1., 
242,  12,  5  [2]   (typewritten)  leaves. 

A  conference  of  representatives  of  all  executive  departments 
called  by  the  Secretary  of  commerce  and  labor  to  consider 
the  problems  of  administration  of  the  act  and  necessary 
amendments  thereto. 


INDEX 


Accounts,  23,  25,  28,  35,,  39. 
Alaskan     Engineering     Commis- 
sion,  compensation  provisions, 

Appeals  from  decisions  of  Com- 
mission, 25. 
Assembly    Division,    21,    22,    31, 

38. 
Attorney,    Employees'    Compen- 
sation    Commission,     23,     34, 

39- 
Awards,  compensation;  Adminis- 
tration of,  18-26;  Statistics  of, 
28,71. 

Bureau  of  Labor,  5. 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  9. 
Bureau  of  Mines,  compensation 
provisions,   7. 

Chief   Claim   Examiner,   22,   23, 

32,  38. 
Chief  of  Accounts,,  23,  25,  28,  35, 

39.     See  also  Disbursing  Office. 
Chief   Statistician,  34,   39. 
Claim  for  compensation,  20,  21. 
Claims   Division,  21,  22,  25,   31, 

32,  38. 

Coast  Guard,  compensation  pro- 
visions,   8,    17. 

Commissioner  of  Labor,  7. 

Commissioner  of  Labor  Statis- 
tics, 7. 

Commissioners.  See  Employees' 
Compensation  Commissioners. 

Compensation  awards.  See  A- 
wards. 

Comptroller-General,  23. 

Cooperation  with  other  Federal 
establishments,  19. 


Damage  suits  against  third  par- 
ties, 26,  27,  34. 
Department  of  Labor,  9,  10,  13, 

17- 

Directories      of      medical      offi- 
cers,   physicians    and    hospitals, 
42. 
Disbursing  Office,  31,  34,  35,  39. 

See  also  Chief  of  Accounts. 
District  of  Columbia,  compensa- 
tion provisions,  12,  13,  17;  text 
of  act,  67. 

Employees'  Compensation  Act  of 
1908:  administration  of,  5-9, 
defects  in,  7-9;  description  of, 

4-9- 

Employees  Compensation  Act  of 
1916:  administration  of  12;  an- 
alysis of,  44-57 ;  description  of, 
11-13;  enactment  of,  7-1 1; 
reasons  for  enactment,  7-9; 
text  of,  47-66. 

Employees'  Compensation  Com- 
missioners, officers  of,  30,  38; 
duties  of,  30. 

Employees'   Compensation  Fund, 

17- 
Expenditures,   69,   70;   estimates 
of,  28. 

Forest  Service,  compensation* 
provisions,  7. 

Injuries,  definition  of,  11 ;  notices 
of,  20,  21 ;  reports  of,  20,  21 ; 
statistics  of,  28,  71. 

Isthmian  Canal  Commission, 
compensation  provisions,  5,  6, 
8.     See  also  Panama  Canal. 


85 


86 


INDEX 


Laws  relating  to  employees'  com- 
pensation, text  of,  57-68. 

Legal  Division,  34,  39. 

Life  Saving  Service,  compensa- 
tion  provisions,  2,  8.  See  also 
Coast  Guard. 

Lighthouse  Service,  compensa- 
tion provisions,  7. 

Medical  Claims  Division,  28,  33, 

34.,  38- 
Medical  Director,  22,  27,  32,  33, 

38- 

Medical  Division,  22,  32,  33,  38. 
Medical  examination  of  claimants, 

23,  24. 
Medical  relief,  administration  of, 

2y,  28. 
Medical  treatment,  24. 

Panama  Canal  Act  of  1912,  6. 

Panama  Canal,  compensation  pro- 
visions, 8,  12,  17.  See  also 
Isthmian  Canal  Commission. 

Panama  Railroad  Company,  com- 
pensation provisions,  8,  12,  17. 

Post  Office  Department,  compen- 
sation  provisions,   3,   4,  8,   13, 

17- 
Publications,    42,    43. 
Public    Health    Service,    27,    32, 

38. 

Publicity  of  employees'  compen- 
sation provisions,  18. 


Receipts,  69,  70. 

Reports,    annual,    of    operations, 

28,  42. 
Revenue  Cutter  Service,  2.     See 

also    Coast    Guard. 
Rules    and    regulations,    17,    18, 

42. 

Safety  engineers,  Navy  Depart- 
ment, 15;  War  Department,  15. 

Salaries,    38,    39. 

Secretary,  Employees'  Compen- 
sation   Commission,    38. 

Secretary  of  Commerce  and  La- 
bor, 5. 

Secretary  of  Labor,  7. 

Secretary's  Office,  30,  31,  38. 

Statistical  Division,  34,  39. 

Statistics  of  injuries  and  awards, 
28,  71. 

Third  parties,  damage  suit 
against,  26,  2rj,  34. 

United  National  Association  of 
Post  Office  Clerks,  9. 

Working  conditions  in  Govern- 
ment establishments,  survey  of, 

14,   15- 
World  War,  effect  of,   on  work 
of     Employees'     Compensation 
Commission,   14. 


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